SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF ETHNIC AZERBAIJANI WOMEN IN GEORGIA

Abstract

The social integration of ethnic minorities is essential for  every  democratic state. For Georgia, an  ethnically diverse country that sees integration into  the  Euro-Atlantic space as  its  primary political priority and follows the  EU association agreement, it is crucial to protect the  human rights and gender equality of minorities. From this  point, a study of minority groups who  are  at the  intersection of different identity and a group affiliation defining factors – ethnicity, religion and gender – is particularly important. This paper focuses on  the  social integration of Georgian Azerbaijani women, representatives of the  country’s largest ethnic minority group, who are  compactly settled mainly in Marneuli, Bolnisi,  Dmanisi,  and Gardabani municipalities of the  Kvemo-Kartli region. Using data from secondary sources, this paper considers participation, knowledge of the  state language, social networks, and intermarriage – the  widely  used dimensions of integration of minorities in a society – and finds  that the  integration level  of ethnic Azerbaijani women in Georgian society is low. The endogenous and exogenous factors responsible for the  low integration are  discussed. The paper concludes that the  social integration is a two-way process and requires mutual efforts both by the  majority society and the  group under study.