Georgian Youth’s New Identities: How Interaction with Foreign Cultures Contributes to its Formation

This paper aims at illustrating how young people in Georgia are constructing their own identities in the context of globalization. The data used in the paper comes from quantitative and qualitative interviews conducted with 8-11 graders in 30 Georgian schools within the framework of the EU funded project “Cultural Heritage and Identities of Europe's Future”. Research on the formation of new Georgian identities shows that young people often try to construct identities by combining different pieces of both local and global culture (Tsuladze, 2012). However, this practice is not universal and not present at the same level among all Georgian youth. In this regard, this paper looks at in which youth groups the influence of local or global culture dominates and what factors contribute to it. The paper argues that exposure to foreign cultures, ideas, and people influences the formation of identity among Georgian youth. In this regard, the strength of interaction with foreign cultures increases the chances of the formation of a more globalist rather than exclusively national, Georgian oriented identity. Furthermore, different factors contribute to whether or not young people interact with foreign cultures. The quantitative and qualitative data indicate that the social capital of the family, settlement type, and general school climate are associated with different types of identities. Having higher social capital, living in urban areas, studying at a school that stresses acquaintance with general cultural literacy or one that is more oriented towards performing different cultural practices is associated with the formation of “globalized” youth identity and vice versa.