Abstract
How have Russian exiles fleeing the Russian-Ukrainian War to the country of Georgia negotiated and constructed gender identities, and how do these changes impact heteropatriarchal state structures? While much public attention has been drawn to the Western theater of the war and Ukrainian refugees, I focus specifically on Russian draft dodgers and conscientious objectors who fled their homeland, resisting President Vladimir Putin’s regime. Upon arrival, Russian migrants, especially male exiles, are questioned not only for their loyalty to anti-war resistance but for their own gender as well. Their masculinity comes into question because a number of host societies believe that Russians should be fighting Putin’s regime from the inside instead of running away. This project enquires what it means to be a cultural outsider in a post-Soviet country that does not trust ethnic Russians, especially given the current occupation of two Georgian territories by the Russian army.
Presenters
Gvantsa GasvianiStudent, PhD student, University of California, Irvine, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2024 Special Focus—The World on the Move: Understanding Migration in a New Global Age
KEYWORDS
Gender, Sexuality, Migration, Militarization, Post-Soviet, Conflict
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