‘Yegor Gaidar would be proud — we have a wave of privatization every 10 years’: Georgian socialists about their struggles

This is an expanded extract of the article, initially published by Perito in Russian.

On the cover: Anti-government graffiti on the walls of the Georgian Parliament painted over with black paint. Photo: Sasha Fokina

Large-scale protests erupted in Georgia in March 2023 after parliament advanced a “foreign agents” law modeled on Russia’s repressive legislation. Though initially withdrawn, the bill passed in 2024 alongside a ban on so-called LGBT propaganda. Massive demonstrations accompanied the ruling Georgian Dream party’s re-election campaign. Despite allegations of fraud, the party retained power, prompting continued rallies. In November 2024, the government froze EU accession talks, betraying aspirations it had once embraced. Protests swelled again but were met with water cannons and tear gas.

By summer 2025, dissent had dwindled to sporadic rallies in solidarity with miners or political prisoners. The intensifying repression is accompanied by protracted socio-economic problems that have remained unresolved for the country since the 1990s. In December 2024, the minimum subsistence level, according to official data, was only 221 lari (about $80) a month. At the same time, the fortune of Bidzina Ivanishvili, former prime minister and founder of the Georgian Dream party, is estimated at $7.6 billion, equivalent to a quarter of the country's GDP.

Giorgi, the Khma (Georgian for “voice”) movement activist, political scholar

S: Let’s start with the Khma movement: how did it come to life, and what values unite its members?

G: Khma is an informal collective of less than ten people with a wider circle of supporters. We are socialists: this describes our view and reflects the focus of our campaigns.

The movement is four years old, and during that time, we have had several major campaigns. The first was perhaps the most famous: we demanded free meals in schools.

S: I am surprised to hear that free school meals are not a thing.

G: Not yet. Before our campaign, there was not even a public discussion about free breakfasts in schools, but now it has become common sense and a well-articulated public demand. Malnutrition among schoolchildren is a real problem in Georgia, and free meals are politically ‘safe’ — who would dare oppose feeding children? This does not fit anyone’s agenda, even though the majority of the Georgian political elite is very liberal economically.

We have also campaigned against predatory banking: there is a special type of loan that can only be paid back out of pensions — accordingly, only pensioners can take them out. It is disgusting to profit from this. It’s not just high interest rates, but outright fraud: many pensioners have paid for years while their debt never decreased. So far, no major changes have come, and no one has been punished, because the owner of the responsible bank — Liberty — Irakli Rukhadze, is also the chief propagandist for former Prime Minister and billionaire Ivanishvili and the head of one of the country's main pro-government television channels, Imedi TV. Incidentally, he is an American citizen. Given that the Georgian government insists on controlling foreign influence in the country, this is quite ironic.

S: So we see how there is an obvious social agenda in the country that falls within the scope of the left and could allow the movement to grow. Why are there so few left-wing voices in the opposition?

G: Poverty alone does not make leftist ideas popular. After all, socialism or being left is not a humanitarian project, but a political one. The fact that there are rational solutions to our problems on the left does not necessarily add points to left-wing groups.

S: Then what is missing from the left in Georgia?

G: The main problem is how the country developed in the 1990s and 2000s: for the last 30 years, we have been in a situation of constant weakening of the working class and associated institutions.

You can write an excellent program, promote smart ideas based on Karl Marx's Capital, but the point is not just academic work, but political work. Meanwhile, we are living in a radically neoliberal experiment. I think Yegor Gaidar (ed: the economist responsible for the program of neoliberal shock therapy reforms in Russia in the early 1990s) would be very proud of Georgia's “achievements,” even compared to Russia. It's like the Chile of post-Soviet space.

S: Shock therapy came to my mind when I first found out that one needs to pay to ride elevators in residential buildings in Tbilisi.

G: Oh, you've never seen that before? This is actually stupid; you have to pay every time you take the elevator.

But you brought up shock therapy — this policy happened in every post-Soviet country, maybe besides Belarus and some Central Asian countries. But Georgia truly pursued this to the end. We are having a new wave of privatization every ten years.

We go out onto the balcony for a smoke and look at the pro-EU and pro-NATO, and anti-Russian graffiti on the buildings on Melikashvili Avenue, at the heart of Tbilisi.

S: Some groups, including those on the left, discourage people from participating in protests, arguing that they are pro-European, and, by extension, pro-capitalist. What do you think about that claim?

G: I understand what you mean. In my opinion, consciously or not, they promote a pro-government agenda. Of course, integration into the EU will not automatically lead Georgians to a better life. But ultimately, such groups help the most reactionary capitalist forces remain in power — there is nothing leftist or progressive about screaming “Maidan” while pointing at protesters.

S: When we met, you mentioned that you are writing a dissertation on China's influence in Georgia. How do you view the level of external influence in the country?

G: What we are seeing now in the Caucasus is a clash of interests between different superpowers, centers of capital concentration — China, Russia, Europe. Russia relies on militarism, and its economic expansion is limited: its business is already present in Georgia, and the energy sector is largely tied to Moscow.

Against this backdrop, China is strengthening its position in the post-Soviet space, which is most noticeable in Central Asia, followed by the Caucasus. The region attracts large amounts of capital with the hope of becoming an economic corridor between China and Europe. Infrastructure is needed to transfer goods, money, and people, which is why large economic projects such as the deep-water port of Anaklia are emerging.

Europe is interested in ensuring its energy security. That is why Tbilisi plans to build large infrastructure facilities to export energy.

At the same time, China is trying to diversify its export routes to Europe, which means that its presence in the Caucasus will grow. The next ten years of Georgia's economic progress will be determined by Beijing — through large infrastructure, logistics, and direct investment.

This is why I see nationalization as a progressive step — at least we’d know who controls key resources and could resist it.

S: Speaking of resistance, let's talk about the protests. What do you think about them now? In November, it seemed that the movement had created a moment for real change — and it didn't happen. What went wrong?

G: I think that stolen elections alone cannot mobilize many people. By the end of November, when the authorities announced their rejection of the European integration path, the elections were already off the agenda. The Georgian Dream saw that people had stopped taking to the streets and just continued to quietly tighten the screws. People have been protesting since 2023, when the foreign agent law was first introduced. Small victories are sporadic, while the state pushes through whatever laws it wants. We are now in a phase where the rallies are dying out: people are getting tired, and for many, the protests have lost their meaning because we have not seen any tangible results in over two years. We have been unable to do anything about the elections, the foreign agent law, or even political prisoners — they are still in jail.

Therefore, I believe that a new approach is needed. The Georgian Dream will inevitably continue to deepen inequality in the country, irresponsibly exploit natural resources, and so on. This could become the basis for a new wave of resistance, new coalitions — not only around the urban middle class — which the government will have no way to counter. For now, as you can see, they are doing whatever they want.

S: Is such a broader coalition between the urban middle class and those who don’t belong to it even possible?

G: It absolutely is possible. And these are very important questions, both practically and theoretically: what kind of society do we have today? How do we apply class analysis?

Society is much more complex than a simple division between business owners and wage workers. Multiple factors shape class today. The gap between the rich and the rest is growing worldwide, and in Georgia the “rest” now includes the middle class as well. Both lower- and middle-class families send their children to public schools, both are burdened with debt, both face housing problems—though in different ways: some have no roof over their heads, others are indebted for life. These are the same problems with the same roots. They could serve as common ground for groups, normally segregated and seen separate, though they are not so far apart.

Globally, the middle class is shrinking, life grows harder decade after decade — especially in Europe and the U.S., not to mention the Global South. Environmental and ecological issues are another unifying factor that can bring together people of different classes and backgrounds. Georgia has already seen examples of this, and the objective reasons are clear.

Such uniting issues must be politicized and placed at the center of public debate. They can create broad coalitions. Free school meals, for instance, had the potential to transform everyday life for the majority—rural and urban alike. There are many such issues that can bridge the gap between the urban middle class and the lower-income classes.

The urgent need for wealth redistribution and real economic development — not on the terms of the top 10% — could raise the quality of life for the majority. Unfortunately, the political class, including the pseudo-left liberal voices, continues to ignore this reality.

S: Getting back to the resistance to the state: as a movement, do you feel increased pressure from the authorities? Are you currently in survival mode?

G: In a way, we are constantly in survival mode. We are now experiencing a new reality, and we have to adapt to it. The protests have been going on for two years, but they are reactive in nature — their goal is to return to the situation of 2023. In this context, it is very difficult to promote progressive policies.

Perhaps the crisis will continue for another five or ten years: the government will propose new laws, people will take to the streets again, no one will have time for progressive initiatives because the protesters will be busy clashing with the police. We cannot stop, but this strategy feels defeatist: the government creates crises to drain energy and block people from setting their own agenda.

S: Yet, some of your comrades are being prosecuted by the state? What is the situation?

G: Georgia is facing a huge crisis with debt and housing, partially due to the widespread unemployment in the country. People mortgage their homes when they take loans, and we have a special police force that deals with evictions when debts are not paid. In 2024, the authorities planned about 1,000 evictions over two months. Everyone knew the dates and addresses, and people began to mobilize to prevent evictions, prevent families with children from ending up on the street.

One of the evictions was supposed to take place on the street near the [Tbilisi State] university, and 200 people came to oppose it; we all took part in this. There were clashes with the police, and two members of our movement were detained. The charges against our comrades are quite serious: damage to state property — the cars of this special police force. The trials are ongoing, and we are, of course, hoping for the best. At the same time, we all understand that the Georgian Dream is now deliberately putting pressure on activists to intimidate socially and politically active groups.

S: Against this backdrop, many people have started talking about emigration. Talking to you, I understand that you would not leave, but could you please explain why?

G: First of all, I don't want to live in another country, so until they call me, like in Russia, saying that they intend to arrest me in three days, I will not leave. Yes, things are getting worse, but it's not the end of the world. People have lived in much harsher regimes, and I think that we can continue our work and that Georgia has the resources for a progressive agenda.

The most important thing is that there is no other way. Either we sink into barbarism, or we seek the potential for a better political life and economy and a healthier society. So, of course, we will try the best we can — while we can. If you want to promote a socialist and progressive agenda, nothing is over. Why should the struggle end?

Ina, co-founder of a union, Khma activist

We were still preparing for the interview, and I asked Ina if she would be comfortable starting with a discussion on feminism in Georgia.

I: I wonder what feminism means in practical terms, because the majority of modern Georgian women do not identify themselves as feminists. Here, feminism is associated with liberal outlook, which doesn’t represent most women. People generally don't care about the economic situation of Georgian women, while for me, as a socialist, the key issue is women’s labor rights.

The women I work with probably belong to the poorest segment of Georgian society. Caregivers like nannies aren’t legally recognized, so they lack rights, despite having a professional identity, perspectives, and knowledge they can share.

Georgia is a major supplier of such workers to Europe and America. This is perhaps the country's main ‘export’, and the sums these people send home exceed local salaries. We also know that more women emigrate than men, and most of them are domestic workers who often live with the families that employ them and send more than 90% of their income home. Families at home depend on them, while the state relies on this export but faces a shortage of care workers — a clear example of global inequality.

S: You are working on creating a union for this sector. What is it like to do this in Georgia in 2025?

I: There is already a union; we have more than 7,000 women, mostly women, aged 40-50. They associate the idea of a union with the Soviet era, when unions were, of course, a completely different story. Our main goal is to explain how unions work and what rights workers can demand. That’s why we run campaigns where we talk about what labor rights are, what workers can demand, and how unions work. From the perspective of labor rights, we talk, for example, about how complicated working in a family can be: you exist in someone else's space, someone else's personal life — this requires a lot of emotional labor. When we first started talking about this, many members of our group had no idea that this was part of their job. However, it is necessary to know about this in order to respond appropriately, not to harm yourself economically or emotionally, not to lose your job, and so on. That is why we run these campaigns non-stop.

S: What difficulties have you encountered in organizing the union? Does the notorious double shift—work and home—manifest itself in any way, compounded by activism?

I: The main limitation for women's participation in the union is a lack of time, and we try to be attentive to our members’ needs. In such a community, it is impossible to call a meeting just a week in advance — that time is already taken up.

S: Over the past year, the most heated discussion on a related topic was the law on so-called LGBT propaganda. I also remember how the Georgian Dream removed gender quotas in parliament, but it seems that the issue of women's rights is not brought up in real political discussions. What discussions are taking place in the public sphere regarding women's rights and gender equality?

I: I have noticed that people have started talking about unpaid domestic work. This topic has hardly been raised in the public sphere, yet women in Georgia traditionally spend five times more time on unpaid housework than men. But this difference exists not because of men, but because the state does not take responsibility for caring for people and families, does not create institutions that support women.

We live in a time when capitalism is sucking the time out of us. Time that we could spend on education, cultural life, our children, leisure — simply on being human. We spend our time on poorly paid jobs, and then we work even more, for free. We plan our lives around work. As a result, we live to work.

But returning to the question of public debate, I will say that the ruling party's entire policy does not stem from the interests of women. Georgian Dream is focused on creating further barriers for women in our social and political life. Moreover, we do not raise the issue of reproductive rights, for example, so as not to provoke a rollback in this area. We have something to lose in this sense.

S: In preparation for our conversation, I looked into Georgian feminist history, and of course, based on the experience of the Georgian Democratic Republic, which gave women the right to vote in 1918, it is clear that the tradition of respect for women's rights here is very old. What are the most common problems that you encounter here as a woman and a mother?

I: It always manifests itself on a practical level: for example, at one point, my work schedule did not coincide with the hours of the kindergarten where I took my son. I had to quit my job. I was lucky to have paid maternity leave. Most Georgian women don’t — they must hire nannies or quit, with no guarantee of returning to work. Motherhood isn’t valued here.

But for me, as a woman and a feminist, motherhood is a focal experience in life. It has allowed me to see the bigger picture of society and, of course, has strengthened my socialist views.

I am confident that I am doing very necessary things. When you work for the common interests of your community, you find the truth. Everything in society works to make you lose ties to your community, but facts are facts. For example, it is a fact that in Chiatura, where the locals have been mining manganese for over 100 years, and 3,000 people are fully dependent on Georgian Manganese, yet the company decided they’re no longer needed. The ruling party and business are beginning to construct a new reality with the help of lies and half-truths. But this activity is aimed at the public, not the residents of Chiatura, who are intelligent people and see through it. When you see something like this, you want to go and change it. This is what we are trying to do, no matter how limited our resources are.

In lieu of conclusion

Three years ago, the Khma movement opened Praktika — People’s Café. Its mission has been simple but powerful: to offer affordable food for students, workers, and anyone in need, while also providing a space for cultural events, discussions, and community organizing. By the way, both interviews above have been conducted there.

Praktika is more than just a café. It is a place with a soul — of those who create it and the community that gathers around it. It is a space built on solidarity — and now it needs some of that solidarity in return.

To keep Praktika alive, Khma has launched a fundraiser. You can learn more and support this unique space by following the link.