Paper short abstract:

The government of Georgia, partly because of its perceived threat from Russia, has cooperated where it can with the European Union and the USA. There is a perennial problem of Georgia dependent on outside sources of energy and yet it has a network of rivers which could provide hydro-electric power.

Paper long abstract:

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Chicago based consultants Mackenzie have presided over the quiet signing of a 99 year lease to a Turkish company to build a hydro-electric dam with the sale of energy to Georgia for 15 years, after which it will sell anywhere that is commercially advantageous. Furthermore, the agreement is unclear about the land ownership of the site nor who is to be employed for building the dam and much else. The Parliament has not ratified the contract but payments have been made and a start on the work has begun, including blocking off the direct road to villages in the area which forces them, when travelling from the capital, to go on a large circuit to get there.

Our paper focusses on the huge reaction of the public to the issue, both the locals who are concerned about the eco-enclave for growing particular plants, access to their homes and that the location of the dam is on an earthquake fault line. And then there are the intellectuals and committed youth from the capital city who have organised a formidable resistance with 249 nights of vigil at the entrance to the site and counting. We observe the national and religious symbols that have been taken to the site and the repertoire of traditional histories which has attracted supporters. The EU has been brought in to intervene and mediate between the government and the protesters and we examine the clash of cultures and the consequent results as they unfold. We note the contrasts of discourse between the locals, the urban protesters, the government representatives and the international communities and how their dominance ebbs and flows.