ABSTRACT
The Georgian case illustrates the ‘stateness’ problem inherent in the combination of ethno-regional heterogeneity and central nationalizing policies. Institutional referents from the Soviet period informed the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia: in the 1920s Abkhazia was a Soviet SSR alongside Georgia before being downgraded to an ASSR in 1935, and South Ossetia became an Autonomous Oblast’ in 1922 only after attempts to unite North and South Ossetia had failed. The essay illustrates how Gorbachev’s reforms and revived claims for autonomy or reunification led to Tbilisi unilaterally abolishing South Ossetia’s autonomy status in 1990, while Abkhazia effectively lost its status 243through a deliberate manipulation of the election rules. Conversely, Ajaria’s demands proved easier to accommodate, as the emphasis was put on being ‘Georgians with a different religion’ and the strong regional leadership maintained close ties with the controlling networks at the political centre.
