Bakar Berekashvili

3 Posts

0 Followers

Bakar Berekashvili is a professor of Political Science and Sociology at the Georgian American University in Tbilisi.

development

Opinion | Everything that makes Tbilisi ‘exciting’ is just a façade

by Bakar Berekashvili

•6 min read

Georgia’s capitalist transformation has created a new social and political order imbued with the spirit of social Darwinism, and Tbilisi is a city emblematic of this post-communist order. The social injustice and poverty generated by this order, however, is disguised in Georgia’s capital by a façade of development. Tbilisi is a city of extremes, where rich and poor live side-by-side. This is typical of a post-soviet, capitalistic city: full of dramatic contrasts. The spirit of the new ca

Democracy

Georgian politics — all circuses, without the bread [Opinion]

by Bakar Berekashvili

•4 min read

Georgia’s political elites are engaged in heated debates over a number of issues they claim are of existential importance to the country. These circuses, in which different interest groups fight for their own elitist agendas, has very little relation to the views and needs of ordinary Georgians. Ostensibly, in contemporary Georgia, as in ancient Athens, all citizens are experts in political life. But, a majority of Georgians use their ‘expertise’ only in informal circumstances, in taxis

Children

Georgia’s capitalist education reforms are a breeding ground for inequality [Opinion]

by Bakar Berekashvili

•4 min read

The education system is the most visible victim of Georgia’s new capitalistic order, with neoliberalism functioning as an ideological monoculture for post-communist Georgia. Although it was to be expected, transition to capitalism has been one of the most difficult and painful tasks for post-communist Georgia. Neoliberal ideology, the most radical form of capitalism, was selected by Georgia’s post-communist elites as the principal strategy for transition from communist rule to a marke

OC Insider