On Politically-Driven Language Discrimination in Post-Soviet Space (from the Example of Occupied Abkhazia)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reflect the policy of the government of Georgia towards creating higher education opportunities for the youth residing in Abkhazia and outline the supporting measures taken by the Georgian side that contribute to Abkhazian youth’s integration into the mainstream of academia locally and worldwide. Accordingly, as the background of the issue, we start with a brief description of the language ideology in the occupied area and then move to a discussion of the factors which demonstrate the opportunities that ensure and simplify access to higher quality education in Georgia as well as abroad for the targeted group. There are two substantive issues: first, Russian language ideology imposition on Abkhaz youth and, second, the benefits of acquiring a degree in Georgia. We argue that the collapse of the Soviet Union and Georgia’s recent pro-Western politics have paved the road to new possibilities for cultivating a linguistically diverse, multiethnic, and tolerant society throughout Georgia. Young people living in both the occupied region and Georgia represent the generation that should cohabitate and find a common path of understanding and peace in order to build a common better future.