"Caucasian sketches" Georgia between contemporary everyday problems and abstract religious rituals

Abstract

The following academic essay is titled “Caucasian sketches” Georgia – between current problems of everyday life and abstract religious rituals” and seeks to portray both sociological and cultural-anthropological aspects of everyday life in the Caucasus republic of Georgia, while also discussing – from the perspective of a traveling author and in a low-threshold manner – the country’s political and socio-cultural features as well as its people. Key to understanding local realities is the reference to various philosophical schools, including Horkheimer, Adorno, but also Mannheim, Bourdieu, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty. In order to further explore the challenges of everyday life in the Caucasus Republic of Georgia, the essay also delves into history and recent political events. Cultural concepts such as the human-animal dualism (Human-Animal Studies) will also play an important role.

Keywords: Georgia, cultural diversity, challenges of everyday life, political orientations, animals in needs