From Industrial Downturn to New Regimes of Accumulation: Exploring the Vocabulary of Change in an Industry-bound Town of Soviet Georgia

• In Event: Time Warp: The Metamorphosis of Modernity Projects in the (Post-)Soviet Space

Abstract

What unfolds when the ideological grip of a totalitarian state begins to wane, allowing for increased individual agency? How does the material world mirror these shifts, and to what extent does it retain its persistence? How do individuals navigate this newfound 'freedom' and engage with the material remnants of a bygone era, while creating new ways and language to interpret these shifts and transformations? This paper investigates the transformative years of the 1970s-80s in the Soviet Union, a time characterized by significant changes alongside the waning appeal of industrial modernity—a force that shaped the cultural and social fabric, as well as the physical landscapes of industrially entrenched towns across the Soviet Union. Focusing on Zestafoni, a town that embodies the Soviet industrial ethos yet distinguishes itself in Western Georgia as a quintessential example of a town fully integrated into Soviet industrial modernity, I examine the lived experiences of these ideological and material shifts. How did local actors adapt to these changes, and what do their strategies reveal about their visions for the future and their interpretations of the past?

Author

• Tamar Qeburia, Ilia State U (Georgia) / U of Goettingen (Germany)