Imperial Biopolitics and Its Disavowals: Russia, Georgia, and Spaces In-Between

Abstract

In this article about the conflict between Georgia and Russia, the authors claim that the application of biopolitical—that is focused on controlling large population groups—instruments leads to the strengthening of imperial logic in Russian foreign policy. This argument is explored on the grounds of the projection of the Russian conservative agenda to Georgia, with its strong religious components and moral appeals, as well as on the basis of Moscow's policy of gradually absorbing Abkhazia and South Ossetia by means of incorporating their population through passportization and other instruments.