Cross-border communication: case of Enguri borderline

The paper is based on the field research carried out in Zugdidi region (West Georgia). It considers the cross-border relationships building the communicative channels between border settlements. The peculiarity of the situation is that the borderline appeared after the armed conflict in 1993, has physically separated the territory settled by the group of people homogenous in terms of ethno-cultural, lingual, religious and kin belonging and everyday practice.

Border settlements on both sides maintain intensive contacts by the use of formal or informal channels. The main domains of communication are trade-vending relations, healthcare issues, crime and kin relations. By focusing on trans-border contacts, a topic closely is related to the specific empirical phenomena that create a possibility of overcoming the conflict through the cross-border peaceful communication.

Bio: Ketevan Khutsishvili is professor at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Institute of Ethnology at Faculty of Humanities, trained as ethnologist. Her main fields of interests are ethno-cultural processes in the Caucasus, religious issues, ethnic identity and relations, IDP studies. She is the author of three monographs in Georgian: ““Changing Religious Situation and Problem of Public Security in Georgia” (2004), “Ethnography of the Caucasian Nations” (2006) and “Dream and its Interpretation in Georgian Being” (2009)

Additional Information: 

Kadri Ausmaa

Kadri.Ausmaa@tlu.ee

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