Socialism in Georgian Colors: The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883–1917

by Stephen F. Jones

Georgian social democracy was the most successful social democratic movement in the Russian Empire. Despite its small size, it produced many of the leading revolutionary figures of 1917, including Irakli Tsereteli, Karlo Chkheidze, Noe Zhordania, and Joseph Stalin. In the first of two volumes, Stephen Jones writes the first history in English of this undeservedly neglected national movement, which represented one of the earliest examples of European social democracy at the turn of the twentieth century.

Georgian social democracy was part of the Russian social democracy from which Bolshevism and Menshevism emerged. But innovative theoretical programs and tactics led Georgian social democracy down an independent path. The powerful Georgian organization united all native classes behind it, and it set a remarkable precedent for many of the anti-colonial nationalist movements of the twentieth century. At the same time, Georgian social democracy was committed to a "European" path, a "third way" that attempted to combine grassroots democracy, private manufacturing, and private land ownership with socialist ideology.

One of the few Western historians fluent in Georgian, Jones fills major gaps in the history of revolutionary and national movements of the Russian Empire.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics

410 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

Stephen Francis Jones is an English historian of Eastern Europe. He has been a member of the Mount Holyoke College faculty since 1989. He is an expert on post-communist societies in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Jones has briefed the U.S. Department of State on a regular basis, as well as a number of U.S. ambassadors to Georgia.

From 1989 to 1991, during the collapse of the Soviet Union, Jones was repeatedly called upon by the New York Times, the McNeil-Lehrer News Hour, and National Geographic magazine for background information. In 1992, he was included in a New York Times article discussing Georgia's future. Additionally, he has participated in five different news programs with the BBC World Service as well as numerous American radio and TV stations, including NPR's Weekend Edition. In July 1996, Jones traveled to Georgia for the World Bank to examine the impact of economic reform on the lives of ordinary citizens in Caucasia and the following year traveled as a consultant to UNDP (United Nations Development Program) to Abkhazia, a secessionist region in Georgia, to investigate the plight of refugees.

Jones is also leading an ongoing effort to work with officials in Georgia to identify, preserve, and catalog archival materials and employ contemporary library technologies to support the nation's archival and library systems. In 2003-2004, he directed two summer programs for Georgians funded by the U.S. State Department. The first was a Georgian Library Professionals program, the second a program on religious tolerance. In 2011, he was named a foreign member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences. That same year, Jones was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Tbilisi State University, Georgia.

At Mount Holyoke, Jones has taught Nationalism: East and West, Post-Soviet Foreign Policy, and The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire. Coconvening six conferences, Jones has published widely, including dozens of articles, chapters, and book reviews on contemporary events in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Reviews

[Evan Siegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just finished reading Stephen Jone's phenomenal book on Georgian Social Democracy. It is densely researched and shows a keen grasp of modern Georgian political and social thought. I cannot recommend it enough. Not only is it essential reading for students of modern Georgian history, but it provides a unique perspective on socialist thought, particularly the rise of Bolshevism and the strengths and weaknesses of its rivals, above all Menshevism.

Georgia was a heavily peasant society with a severely undereducated and illiterate population. The author feels that the success of Georgian socialists in becoming a hegemonic force in society, winning over the peasantry and much of the intelligentsia, foreshadowed Third World modernizing socialist movements in the Third World. I think he stretches to point, but it's still worth considering.

My main cavil is his lapsing into abbreviations of political formations which the reader has no hope of keeping track of. It's fine to use RSDLP for the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, but what is CA? Similarly, a reference vocabulary for the dozen or so Georgian words used in the book would have been appreciated.

But this book was one of the most engaging and exciting reads I've had in a long time. გაუმარგოს!

[ანანკე · Rating 4 out of 5]

ზედმეტად დეტალური? ბევრი გამეორებები? არ ვიცი, მაგრამ სიცხადე მაკლდა... ყოველ შემთხვევაში, ამ წიგნის სწრაფად წაკითხვის გამოცდილება დანტეს ჯოჯოხეთის წრეებზე სიარულს ჰგავდა 😃

[Svalbard Sleeper District · Rating 3 out of 5]

როლი: ქართულ თანამედროვე ისტორიოგრაფიაში არსებული შიდა წინააღმდეგობებიდან და პრობლემული დისკურსებიდან ("ეროვნული vs სოციალისტური") გამომდინარე, ამ მიმოხილვის თემა ალბათ ბევრისთვის მოულოდნელ საკითხებს და ფაქტებს მოიცავს, რაც კარგია - არ შეიძლება საკუთარი ისტორიის მიმართ მუდმივ სიბნელეში და გამოგონილ ნარატივებში ცხოვრება.

შინაარსი: იმ ფიგურების პოლიტიკური ნიჭის ისტორიის შემონახვას, რომლებმაც ქართული სოციალ-დემოკრატიის (რომელიც მაშინ, დღევანდელი უხერხემლო სოციალ-დემოკრატიული მოდელისგან განსხვავებით, დიდწილად სოციალიზმთან იყო ასოცირებული) ტრადიცია შექმნეს და შეინარჩუნეს ყველაზე რთულ პირობებში, 30 წელი არ უნდა დასჭირვებოდა, მაგრამ სჯობს გვიან, ვიდრე არასდროს.

გადმოცემის ფორმა: არ ვიცი, ავტორის წერის შედეგია თუ თარგმანის, მაგრამ ეს ამ წიგნის დიდი ნაკლია. განმეორებული თემები გადმოცემულია განმეორებულ ფორმებში, რაც კითხვაში არასაჭიროდ დამღლელი ძალისხმევის და მოთმინების ჩართვას ითხოვს. შეიძლებოდა ამ ყველაფრის 1/3 ნაკლებ მოცულობაში და უფრო საინტერესოდ დაწერა.

[Dimitrii Ivanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great outline of the Georgian social democratic movement through to the revolution, carefully structured and with a good set of sources - including, rather unusually for a study of this sort, those written in Georgian. The circumstances of its formation, theoretical innovation, historical importance, and personalities that made their impact are all discussed; at its best, the book almost gets anthropological.

[Tobias Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a historical book, well-written and researched, and seems like absolutely an important topic to engage with.

It was too heavy for me, as a non-specialist, to enjoy as my 'light reading'. Lesson learned!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jones covers the rise of socialism in Georgia, from its beginnings as a movement to sustain the Georgian national identity, to the rise of the Mensheviks and the formation of the Georgian Democratic Republic in 1918. At times it is a difficult, dense read, covering obscure meetings of Georgian socialists and looking at the minute details of the breakdown into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. However it is a critical work to understanding the era, and the background to the socialist movement in the Russian Empire, as the Georgian socialists would play a major role. That said it does not focus on Bolsheviks, so Stalin is minimized throughout, while someone like Noe Jordania is given a far more prominent role.