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Auditorium 115 protest in March 2016 (Dominik K. Cagara/Archive)

Analysis

Labour rights are back on the radar in Georgia [Analysis]

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•5 min read

Over 1,000 workers were killed or injured in occupational accidents in Georgia from 2011–2016, according to data compiled by the Applied Research Company, a consultancy. Almost every month, yet another worker plunges to his death from Tbilisi’s shockingly unprotected highrise construction sites or a story of worker humiliation or exploitation hits the news. Labour issues have returned as fertile ground for Georgian activism. With a series of large protests having been held in the industr

Abkhazia

Georgia’s youth are taking to the streets — both on the left and the extreme right [Analysis]

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•7 min read

In May 2016, Tbilisi’s Kiwi Café — a vegan hangout for city hipsters — was hit by nationalist youths armed with meat sausages. The grotesque spectacle was obvious click-bait in today’s attention seeking social media, but it did highlight a new trend: social and lifestyle issues increasingly trump Georgia’s latent political rifts, and young people are at the forefront of this evolution. Students lead the way In March 2016 Georgia’s oldest and largest university, Tbilisi State Universit

Auditorium 115

Are Georgia’s disparate left-wing protesters consolidating into a coherent political force?

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•7 min read

A wave of protests unusually widespread for Georgian leftist groups hit the capital Tbilisi this winter, after revelations of dreadful labour conditions in the country emerged. The question is, whether the protests can be transformed into a genuine, grassroots left-wing movement. After several unsuccessful trials, the grassroot workers’ movements from Tbilisi and beyond have found the power to stand together against harsh working conditions and exploitation, activists argue. Left-wing gr