Davabirzhaot! Conflicting claims on public space in Tbilisi between transparency and opaqueness. Issue 7 (7th July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Professor Carola Silvia Neugebauer and Lela Rekhviashvili, Associate; Curro, Costanza
• Is Part Of: International journal of sociology and social policy. Volume 35:Issue 7/8(2015)
• Page Start: 497
• Page End: 512
• Publication Date: 2015-07-07
• Subjects: Sociology -- Periodicals; Social policy -- Periodicals; 301.05
• DOI: 10.1108/IJSSP-12-2014-0122
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0144-333X

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Purpose</title> <p> – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the form of young male socialisation referred to as <italic>birzha</italic>, in its relation to public space in Georgia. <italic>Birzha</italic> defines a group of young men who meet regularly in urban open spaces in Tbilisi's neighbourhoods. Partly considered as the initial step of a criminal career, belonging to <italic>birzha</italic> is a mark of identification with one's local group. The contested nature of public space is illustrated by the conflicting relation between <italic>birzha's</italic> bottom-up use of public space and top-down projects of urban renovation sought by Saakashvili's government. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Design/methodology/approach</title> <p> – Drawing upon literary and media sources, and analysing fieldwork data collected in 2008-2009 and 2014, this study explores how the announced (re)construction of public space under Saakashvili resulted in institutional interventions from above which curtailed public space's accessibility. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Findings</title> <p> – The present analysis points out contradictions in Saakashvili's government's political narrative on public space. In the institutional focus on a future of order, transparency, and democracy, <italic>birzha</italic> is an insistent reminder of an informal and corrupted past. Banned from futuristic projections of the public space, in the present <italic>birzha</italic> is annihilated by state repression, enforced in opaque zones out of public sight. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Originality/value</title> <p> – Focusing on a largely overlooked phenomenon in social science research, the paper highlights the ways in which conflicting approaches to public space affect the relation between political institutions and citizens. Delving into ambivalent public/private divides in post-socialist societies, the study of Georgian <italic>birzha</italic> offers an original angle for investigating the contestation of urban public space in relation to political legitimacy and transparency.</p> </sec> </abstract>