The Reasons for the Formation of Student Protest Movements in Contemporary Georgia: A Case Study of "Auditoria 115" and "May Student Movement"

Abstract

In the 21st century, the formation of student protest movements is one of the current events in Georgia. The years 2016-2022 were characterised by large-scale manifestations of student protests, the scale of which often went beyond the university environment. The activation of student movements during this period is associated with the student associations "Auditoria115" and "May Student Movement", which emerged at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. The reasons for the emergence of the student movements presented here are complex and are linked to both internal university and external state factors. These factors are often closely interrelated. This study, based on primary empirical sources (in-depth interviews), examines the reasons for the emergence of the above-mentioned student movements in modern Georgia, which arise from internal university and external state challenges, and analyses the role of these reasons in the formation of the theory of collective identity of the members of the movements. At the same time, in identifying the social, economic and political factors for the emergence of the student movement, the dominance of left-wing ideological views, which have proved to be the basis for the emergence of student movements both in Georgia and in other countries, became clear.

The work was supported by Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences within the framework of the 2023 targeted grant. Project title: "Student Protest Movements in Georgia: Reasons, Types, Results (2016-2022)."