How Soviet is the Religious Revival in Georgia: Tactics in Everyday Religiosity^*

* Research for this article was supported in part by the Global Faculty Grants Program, which is funded and administered by the Open Society Institute (OSI). The opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and do not necessarily express the views of OSI. I am grateful to my colleagues and friends for their help and encouragement at various stages of conducting research, writing and revising this article: Mirian Gamrekelashvili, Bruce Grant, Jesse Driscoll, Peter Kabachnik and Paul Manning.

Abstract

This article explores everyday religiosity in post-Soviet Georgia based on multi-sited fieldwork and applying a genealogical approach. It looks at the use of tactics in negotiations between priests and believers. The article sees negotiations, prevalent in domestic religiosity and embodied practices, as a continuation of everyday Soviet tactics, particularly informal networks (Blat) and moonlighting (Khaltura). To understand how negotiations lead to greater control and an increase in religiosity, the article explores important features of the Georgian Orthodox Church and its specific development. The article concludes that tactics in this specific context strengthen the more powerful and reproduce dependency.

Notes

* Research for this article was supported in part by the Global Faculty Grants Program, which is funded and administered by the Open Society Institute (OSI). The opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and do not necessarily express the views of OSI. I am grateful to my colleagues and friends for their help and encouragement at various stages of conducting research, writing and revising this article: Mirian Gamrekelashvili, Bruce Grant, Jesse Driscoll, Peter Kabachnik and Paul Manning.

¹ Interview with Mariam, Imereti, Georgia, 3 August 2013.

² Caucasus Barometer is the annual household survey on socio-economic issues and political attitudes conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC). ‘How Important is Religion in Your Daily Life? By Age Group’, Caucasus Barometer 2013 Georgia, available at: http://caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2013ge/RELIMP-by-AGEGROUP/, accessed 20 May 2014; ‘How Important is Religion in Your Daily Life?’, Caucasus Barometer 2013 Georgia, available at: http://caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2013ge/RELIMP/, accessed 10 March 2014.

³ ‘Frequency of Attendance of Religious Services by Age Group’, Caucasus Barometer 2013 Georgia, available at: http://caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2013ge/RELSERV-by-AGEGROUP/, accessed 10 March 2014.

⁴ ‘How Important is Religion in Your Daily Life? By Age Group’, Caucasus Barometer 2013 Georgia, available at: http://caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2013ge/RELIMP-by-AGEGROUP/, accessed 10 March 2014.

⁵ On the limited freedom to practise Islam in the border regions of Georgia, see Pelkmans (2006), Wanner (2007).

⁶ For example, the Church strictly regulates the order and type of Church singing. However, when it comes to the music written by the Patriarch Ilia II, which should not be included in the liturgy, some priests allow his music to be part of the Church service. ‘Decree of the Holy Synode of Patriarchate’, Patriarchate of Georgia, 18 August 2003, available at: http://patriarchate.ge/geo/wminda-sinodi/wminda-sinodis-ganchinebani/18-agvisto-2003-weli-urbnisis/, accessed 5 March 2017.

⁷ In 1992 the Patriarch tried to regulate elaborate practices around the deceased and issued a ‘Decree about Rites for the Departed’, Madli, number 16, 58, 1992, available at: http://www.orthodoxy.ge/samartali/ganchineba.htm, accessed 10 May 2014.

⁸ On which see Badone (1990), Beyer (1994), Casanova (1994), Watling (2001).

⁹ The findings of this article can also add to the debate on the extent to which a universalistic interpretation of issues of religiosity can be applied in understanding different contexts and cultures (Geertz 1966; Asad 1993; Anjum 2007). The study does not approach religion from the essentialist perspective and acknowledges that history and social context create their own webs of meanings and attitudes to dealing with power (Asad 1993). The high popularity of the Church and the exceptional level of trust in it are the result of a particular context and history. This article contributes to the debate on how historically grounded religion as a social process is, and suggests that each development should be analysed within the given culture and as a product of its specific context.

¹⁰ The study of ‘lived religion’ includes, as Orsi suggested, ‘religious practice and imagination in ongoing, dynamic relation with the realities and structures of everyday life, in particular times and spaces’ (Orsi 2010, p. xxxi). This approach seems to be especially appropriate for Georgia, where ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’, and ‘popular’ and ‘normative’ are intermingled. This study does not differentiate between ‘superstitions’ and ‘faith’, and sees them as ‘cultural constructions deeply implicated within the realities of power’ (Orsi 2010, p. xxxiv).

¹¹ ‘Martlmadidebluri’, Kviris Palitra, available at: http://www.kvirispalitra.ge/martlmadidebluri.html, accessed 20 May 2014.

¹² For analysis of regulations, see the website of the Patriarchate of The Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church, available at: http://patriarchate.ge/geo/wminda-sinodi/wminda-sinodis-ganchinebani/, accessed 8 March 2017.

¹³ For analysis of communications between Church and believers see, http://www.orthodoxy.ge/pasukhebi/4.htm and http://www.orthodoxy.ge/ojakhi.htm, accessed 12 March 2014.

¹⁴ See: the sermons on Archpriest Theodore Gignadze’s official website, available at: http://www.teodore.ge/, accessed 5 March 2014; interviews under ‘Religion’, Tbiliselebi, http://tbiliselebi.ge/?rubr_id=7&year=2017&jurn_id=9; interviews under ‘Qristianuli Cxovreba’, Karibje, available at: http://karibche.ambebi.ge/qristianuli-ckhovreba/interviu-modzghvarthan.html, accessed 21 March 2014; ‘Martlmadidebluri Videoebi’, www.mirqma.ucoz.com, available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/martlmadidebluri, accessed 1 August 2015.

¹⁵ An anonymous database containing a series of questions and answers published by Ambioni, available at: http://www.ambioni.ge/gvpasuxobs-mozrvari, accessed 20 May 2014. Kviris Palitra, available at: http://ftp.kvirispalitra.ge/public/719-ras-gvetyvi-mamao.html, accessed 20 May 2014.

¹⁶ We know from around the world that deviations and amalgamations build belief systems and everyday religiosity (Watling 2001; Orsi 2010). Lived religion often encompasses some practices that are not part of official religious discourse or some that are even banned. Some traditions allow for the lifting of laws for religious authorities in situations where adherence would be more problematic. Christianity in particular lacks uniformity both in terms of its origins (Pagels 1979) and its different traditions (Stewart 1991).

¹⁷ On the concept of Economy in Orthodox Christianity, see Patsavos (no date). On economy in the Georgian Orthodox Church, see the thoughts of Archbishop Pavle Khorava, available at: http://www.oldorthodox.ge/werilebi_ikonomiis_shesaxeb.html, accessed 8 March 2017.

¹⁸ As found on an application form for an identity card.

¹⁹ About the importance of embedding in history, being ‘old’ thus sacred, see the essay by Manning (2008).

²⁰ See also Werth (2006, pp. 84–6).

²¹ Different views are expressed in Kachkachishvili et al. (2013).

²² Interview with Nikoloz Aleksidze, 24 Hours Weekend, 28 March 2014, available at: http://www.24saati.ge/weekend/story/42559-ver-gagvirkveviamrevli-krebitia-tu-ara#sthash.MAl6pwNq.dpuf, accessed 15 April 2014.

²³ Interview with Davit Isakadze, Rustavi 2, 3 December 2013, excerpts available at: http://www.kvirispalitra.ge/public/19756-dekanozi-davith-isakadze-thqven-gjerath-rom-mahmadiani-qarthveli-marthla-qarthvelia.html?device=xhtml&start=52, accessed 5 May 2014.

²⁴ Intellectuals and theologians try to refute those claims, see interview with Tamar Pataridze, 24 Hours Weekend, 22 March 2014, available at: http://www.24saati.ge/weekend/story/42492-rtsmena-yvelaze-adamianur-fenomenad-mimachnia#sthash.Lm9X7ZtZ.dpuf, accessed 25 April 2014.

²⁵ For more on this topic, see Pollack (2001), Fuchslocher (2010), Grdzelidze (2010), Zedania (2011).

²⁶ For the desecularisation, see Luehrmann (2005).

²⁷ Interview with Maria, Imereti, 18 August 2014.

²⁸ In March 2015 the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II introduced a new celebration named Gratitude to God and established rules to celebrate it. It should coincide with Easter Sunday, and among other activities sacrifice of a bull, seven sheep and a Bellwether was advised, thus reintroducing the popular domestic tradition of animal sacrifice officially into the realm of the Church. By establishing exact rules the Patriarch simultaneously restricted the possibility for negotiations. If and how the celebration works should be observed in the coming years. For excerpts of Ilia II preaching the new celebration see, ‘Patriarqis qadageba’, 22 March 2015, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQSrZ0JFmgY, accessed 1 August 2015.

²⁹ An Orthodox website, www.orthodoxy.ge, one of the main sources for regulations, gives instructions on how to build typically Georgian home shrines. See, ‘How to Build an Orthodox Icon Corner’, available at: http://www.orthodoxy.ge/sakhli/kutkhe.htm, accessed 10 March 2014.

³⁰ ‘Ras Gvetkvi Mamao’, Kviris Palitra, available at: http://www.kvirispalitra.ge/index.php?option=com_questions&view=question&id=1487&Itemid=95, accessed 10 March 2017.

³¹ I am grateful to one of the anonymous reviewers of this article for pointing out how this could be viewed as a response to strong domestication.

³² Interview with Archpriest Giorgi Tevdorashvili, Tbiliselebi, 6 October 2010, available at: http://www.tbiliselebi.ge/?mas_id=5945&jurn_id=36&rubr_id=7, accessed 10 April 2014.

³³ Interview with Archpriest Giorgi Tevdorashvili, 28 July 2014, Tbiliselebi, available at: http://tbiliselebi.ge/?mas_id=268442108&year=2014&jurn_id=30&rubr_id=7, accessed 25 June 2015.

³⁴ Interview with Archpriest Giorgi Tevdorashvili, 28 July 2014, Tbiliselebi, available at: http://tbiliselebi.ge/?mas_id=268442108&year=2014&jurn_id=30&rubr_id=7, accessed 25 June 2015.

³⁵ Interview with Orthodox priest 1, Tbilisi, 18 July 2013.

³⁶ ‘Public Perceptions on Gender Equality in Politics and Business’, Research Report, UNDP Georgia, 2013, Tbilisi, p. 81, available at: http://www.ge.undp.org/content/dam/georgia/docs/publications/GE_UNDP_Gender_%20Research_ENG.pdf, accessed 10 May 2014.

³⁷ See, Karibche, available at: http://karibche.ambebi.ge/qristianuli-ckhovreba/shekithkhva-modzghvars.html, accessed 20 May 2014; Ambioni, available at: http://www.ambioni.ge/gvpasuxobs-mozrvari/qorwineba, accessed 20 May 2014.

³⁸ Though the abnegation of body is an important part of the rhetoric of the Church authorities, we see how much the ex-votos in churches involve body-related concerns such as health, fertility and well-being. This is not specific to Georgia (McGuire 2006; Orsi 2010).

³⁹ See, ‘On the Importance of Fasting’, the Patriarchate of the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church, available at: http://patriarchate.ge/geo/50-2/, accessed 9 March 2017.

⁴⁰ Restrictions imposed on Church members are often the topic of heated public discussions between intellectuals.

⁴¹ The Georgianised Russian term for someone who is in charge. For more on this topic, see Humphrey (2002, p. 101).

⁴² Interview with Niko, Imereti, 27 July 2013.

⁴³ This term is also very gendered, as dzamakatsoba is a domain of men only. In interviews, believers told how priests helped them maintain their business by just calling the competitors. In another story a young man witnessed how a mountainous road was closed after an avalanche. A priest was there ‘… in his Jeep. He took the cellphone. Called someone. In an hour a huge machine came and cleared the road. These were his buddies from the local construction work’ (interview with Lasha, Tbilisi, 15 January 2014).

⁴⁴ Interview with Orthodox priest 2, Tbilisi, 2 September 2013.

⁴⁵ Everyday tactics of relying on informal social networks in Soviet Georgia helped to achieve short-term goals. The tactics were used to overcome certain rules. To give an example, in the early 1980s, when consuming alcohol was strictly forbidden under Andropov as a way to strengthen discipline (Rywkin 1994, p. 185), some would still manage to buy wine for weddings. As weddings tend to be big in Georgia (usually with around 300 guests) considerable effort was required to purchase this amount of wine and then to serve it. So local authorities were invited and they together consumed the wine, pretending it to be tea or water. The reimbursement for a favour would be symbolic (like prestige) or financial.

⁴⁶ Interview with Archil, Tbilisi, 16 January 2014.

⁴⁷ Interview with Giorgi, Tbilisi, 10 April 2011.

⁴⁸ Interview with Father Giorgi Tevdorashvili, Tbiliselebi, 14 October 2013, available at: http://tbiliselebi.ge/?mas_id=268438752&year=2013&rubr_id=7&jurn_id=42, accessed 12 March 2014.

⁴⁹ Rosenthal (1997, p. 2) argues that the effect of the political culture around Stalin constructed him as a master magician, an omnipotent and mysterious figure, which had occult qualities as well.

⁵⁰ ‘Easter Sermon of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II’, 2013, available at: http://www.orthodoxy.ge/patriarqi/epistoleebi/saagdgomo2013.htm, accessed 15 March 2014.

⁵¹ Developments over the past 25 years show that the Georgian Orthodox Church has gained its power not least by aligning itself to important historical figures. Some of them (such as Ilia Chavchavadze, a very secular public figure) became saints while others, such as Stalin, were treated with caution (Zedania 2011).

⁵² This alignment became the reason for heated debates among intellectuals and the Church, see ‘Cminda Mamebi Brdzaneben’, Tabula, 19 March 2014, available at: http://www.tabula.ge/ge/story/81217-tsminda-mamebi-brdzaneben, accessed 21 March 2014.

⁵³ Father Theodor meeting with students from different universities, 12 October 2011, available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwpSsnO6Mhg, accessed 15 March 2014.

⁵⁴ Interview with Father Theodor, Tbilisi, 22 October 2011.

⁵⁵ ‘Saint Soso’, Profili television show, part 1, Rustavi 2, 14 April 2016, available at: http://rustavi2.com/en/video/14602?v=2, accessed 10 March 2017.

⁵⁶ Interview with Manana, Tbilisi, 14 January 2014.

⁵⁷ A Tamada is a toastmaster (usually male), who leads every kind of feast (supra) in Georgia. A Tamada initiates each toast and by doing so he follows an etiquette including the sequence of toasts.

⁵⁸ ‘Sermon by the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II’, Interpressnews, 16 March 2014, available at: http://www.interpressnews.ge/ge/sazogadoeba/274054-ilia-meore-sackhovreblad-uckhoethshi-tsasvla-aris-gadagvareba-erisa-da-amitom-dzalian-sashishia.html?ar=A, accessed 17 March 2014.