Women's participation patterns in the public sphere in contemporary Georgia

Abstract

In contemporary Georgia, which received a heavy legacy from the Soviet Union in terms of promoting gender equality, women are excluded from the public realm. The dissertation aims to explore women’s participation patterns in public space in Georgia. The literature review outlines the debate of public/private and links it with the work/family conflict. Afterwards, it reviews Soviet and post-Soviet gender orders, and contemporary market economy. Finally, it focuses on the neotraditional gender ideology and gender negotiation strategies of women. The literature review aims to explore how these concepts and processes influence women’s participation patterns in the public realm. In order to understand women’s experiences, qualitative, semi-structured online interviews were used. In total, ten interviews were conducted with women active in movements for greater gender representation in Georgia. Overall, the findings suggest that contemporary gender order in Georgia may be characterised by the neotraditional gender ideology and, in a sense, can be influenced by both traditional as well as Soviet gender regimes. The impact of contemporary market economy was also highlighted in the participants’ accounts. Thus, the findings of this study are in accordance with the wider sociological literature focusing on the post-Soviet gender order. The research contributes to the field of gender studies in the post-socialist countries