Authors

Discussion

In my paper I want to show how mobility patterns and translocal practices among the Azerbaijani minority in south-east Georgia next to the border with Azerbaijan and Armenia has changed since 2020. Drawing on the field research conducted in years 2018-2023, I will look at how mobility patterns among the Azerbaijani community have changed since the land border with Azerbaijan was closed in 2020. This has affected the mobility of Azerbaijanis in both countries, including the maintenance of translocal family ties. I examine the process of constructing the border between the two countries in material, social and symbolic dimensions. How did the border 'materialise' and how did mobility practices change after the outbreak of the pandemic? Under what conditions (and for whom) is the border open and for whom is it still closed, and why? What kind of strategies and narratives do residents have when their mobility has been restricted?

Selected references:

Barth Fredrik, 1969, Introduction, in: F. Barth (red.) Ethnic Groups and Boundaries, Oslo: Universitetforlaget.

Levitt Peggy, Nina Glick-Schiller, 2004, Conceptualizing Simultaneity. A Transnational Social Field Perspective on Society, ”International Migration Review”, Vol. 38, No. 3, 1004-1039.

Pelkmans Mathijs, 2006, Defending the border: Identity, Religion, and Modernity in the Republic of Georgia, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.