Contesting European secular modernization: the instrumentalization of Orthodox rhetoric in post-Rose Revolution Georgia

Abstract

This thesis examines how strategic narratives of modernization, Europeanisation, and religious-traditional values are constructed and contested in contemporary Georgia. It argues that Georgian political discourse operates on two levels: an official level shaped by political institutions and religious authorities, and an unofficial level circulating through informal religious communication and popular interpretations of political events. Grounded in the concepts of strategic narratives, modernization, and Katechon, the research uses thematic analysis of political speeches, Patriarchal sermons, interviews, and corpusassisted textual data. The study explores the coexistence of support for European integration alongside criticism of liberal Western modernity within both political and religious discourse. The findings demonstrate that modernization in Georgia is framed not only as a political and economic process, but also as a moral and civilizational issue tied to identity and national values. The thesis argues that political and religious actors strategically construct competing narratives of Europeanisation and traditional values, producing ambivalence within Georgian public discourse and shaping perceptions of Georgia’s political orientation.