This project focuses on the Azerbaijani community in Georgia, aiming to understand the position of this ethnoreligious minority in relation to the majority population and the Georgian state.
The position of the Azerbaijani community within Georgian society has historically been shaped by nationalist discourse, which has portrayed them as Others, “guests,” and as a non-integral part of the nation. Consequently, knowledge about Georgian Azerbaijanis among ethnic Georgians has often been filtered through a lens of doubt and mistrust.
In contrast, this project adopts the perspective of the ethnic minority—Georgian Azerbaijanis—and seeks to analyze how information and ideas of truth travel between Georgia’s political and socio-cultural center, Tbilisi, and the Azerbaijani community of Kvemo Kartli. Particular attention is given to the roles that mistrust, doubt, and mediation play in this process.
To this end, the project outlines the following objectives: to examine how social and linguistic factors influence the circulation of information; to investigate how ethnic and religious dynamics contribute to the formation of mistrust and doubt; to explore skeptical attitudes toward media channels; and to analyze the function of informal networks in disseminating and mediating information.
Methodologically, social media analysis will be used and extensive ethnographic fieldwork will be conducted over twelve months, gathering data through participant observation and collecting life-stories.
