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{{infobox | {{infobox | ||
| nameofpractice =Natsnoboba | |||
| flagemoji =🇬🇪 | |||
| definition =Informal contacts and networks | |||
| location =Georgia | |||
| imagemap =Georgia map.png | |||
| clusters = | |||
}} | [[:Category:Redistribution|Redistribution]] – [[:Category: Substantive ambivalence| Substantive ambivalence]] – [[:Category: Instrumentality of sociability| Instrumentality of sociability]] – [[:Category: Economies of favours| Economies of favours]] | ||
| categories = | |||
[[:Category:Georgia|Georgia]] – [[:Category: FSU| FSU]] – [[:Category: Caucasus| Caucasus]] – [[:Category: Personal connections| Personal connections]] – [[:Category: Favour| Favour]] | |||
| authorofpiece =Huseyn Aliyev | |||
| authorinstitution =School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK | |||
The South Caucasian republic of Georgia has been known for the spread and importance of informal practices for centuries <ref> Shelley, L., Scott, E. and Latta, A. (eds) 2007. Organized crime and corruption in Georgia. London: Routledge. </ref>. Until the late Soviet period, similar to its South and North Caucasian neighbours, the bulk of Georgian informal practices thrived within tightly-knit kinship networks, sustained by extended patriarchal families. Such kinship networks in essence resembled those found among clan-based and tribal societies in other parts of the world, yet were also undermined and transformed by the decades of collectivisation, urbanisation and social reorganisation associated with Sovietisation <ref> Aliyev, 2015. ''Post-Communist Civil Society and the Soviet Legacy. The Challenges of Democratisation and Reform in the Caucasus''. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp: 77-78 </ref>. The gradual retreat of extended traditional families into rural enclaves gave rise to informal networks of connections and acquaintances, which became instrumental in rapidly transforming the social milieus of Georgian urban metropolises. The widespread use of contacts and networks, known as ''natsnoboba'' (ნაცნობობა), also transliterated as ''nacnoboba'', became typical. | | authorwebsite =[https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/staff/huseynaliyev/ Profile page at UG]}} | ||
<big>'''By Huseyn Aliyev, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK'''</big> | |||
[[Category:Redistribution]] | |||
''Natsnoboba'' translates from Georgian as ‘acquaintances’ and, similarly to Chinese ''guanxi'' (‘acquaintances’) or Korean ''gwangue'' <ref> Yang, M. 1994. ''Gifts, Favors, and Banquets: The Art of Social Relationships in China''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. </ref> <ref> Gold, T., Doug, G. and Wank, D. (eds) 2002. ''Social connections in China: Institutions, culture, and the changing nature of guanxi''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. </ref> refers to an extensive individual network of connections and contacts. The use of ''natsnoboba'' belongs to a ‘bigger family’ of informal practices – Russian ''blat'' <ref> Ledeneva, A. 1998. ''Russia's economy of favours: Blat, networking and informal exchange.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. </ref> Arab ''wasta'' <ref> Cunningham, R. B., Sarayrah, Y. K. and Sarayrah, Y. E. 1994. ‘Taming "Wasta" to Achieve Development,’ ''Arab Studies Quarterly'', 16(3): 29-41. </ref> and Brazilian ''jeitinho'' <ref> Amado, G. and Brasil, H. V. 1991. ‘Organizational behaviors and cultural context: the Brazilian “jeitinho”’, ''International Studies of Management & Organization'', 21(3): 38-61. </ref> – which rely on the instrumental use of connections, friends and acquaintances. Among the most notable regional equivalents of ''natsnoboba'' are Azerbaijan’s ''tanisliq'' and Armenian ''tsanot'' networks, which are similarly based upon loosely-knit groups of remotely-connected friends and acquaintances. | [[Category: Substantive ambivalence]] | ||
[[Category: Instrumentality of sociability]] | |||
[[Category: Economies of favours]] | |||
[[Category:Georgia]] | |||
[[Category: FSU]] | |||
[[Category: Caucasus]] | |||
[[Category: Personal connections]] | |||
[[Category: Favour]] | |||
[[Category:Entry]] | |||
[[Category: Volume 1]] | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
|style="font-size:1.1em;"|The South Caucasian republic of Georgia has been known for the spread and importance of informal practices for centuries <ref> Shelley, L., Scott, E. and Latta, A. (eds) 2007. Organized crime and corruption in Georgia. London: Routledge. </ref>. Until the late Soviet period, similar to its South and North Caucasian neighbours, the bulk of Georgian informal practices thrived within tightly-knit kinship networks, sustained by extended patriarchal families. Such kinship networks in essence resembled those found among clan-based and tribal societies in other parts of the world, yet were also undermined and transformed by the decades of collectivisation, urbanisation and social reorganisation associated with Sovietisation <ref> Aliyev, 2015. ''Post-Communist Civil Society and the Soviet Legacy. The Challenges of Democratisation and Reform in the Caucasus''. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp: 77-78 </ref>. The gradual retreat of extended traditional families into rural enclaves gave rise to informal networks of connections and acquaintances, which became instrumental in rapidly transforming the social milieus of Georgian urban metropolises. The widespread use of contacts and networks, known as ''natsnoboba'' (ნაცნობობა), also transliterated as ''nacnoboba'', became typical. | |||
|} | |||
''Natsnoboba'' translates from Georgian as ‘acquaintances’ and, similarly to Chinese ''[[guanxi]]'' (‘acquaintances’) or Korean ''gwangue'' <ref> Yang, M. 1994. ''Gifts, Favors, and Banquets: The Art of Social Relationships in China''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. </ref> <ref> Gold, T., Doug, G. and Wank, D. (eds) 2002. ''Social connections in China: Institutions, culture, and the changing nature of guanxi''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. </ref> refers to an extensive individual network of connections and contacts. The use of ''natsnoboba'' belongs to a ‘bigger family’ of informal practices – Russian ''[[blat]]'' <ref> Ledeneva, A. 1998. ''Russia's economy of favours: Blat, networking and informal exchange.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. </ref> Arab ''[[wasta]]'' <ref> Cunningham, R. B., Sarayrah, Y. K. and Sarayrah, Y. E. 1994. ‘Taming "Wasta" to Achieve Development,’ ''Arab Studies Quarterly'', 16(3): 29-41. </ref> and Brazilian ''[[jeitinho]]'' <ref> Amado, G. and Brasil, H. V. 1991. ‘Organizational behaviors and cultural context: the Brazilian “jeitinho”’, ''International Studies of Management & Organization'', 21(3): 38-61. </ref> – which rely on the instrumental use of connections, friends and acquaintances. Among the most notable regional equivalents of ''natsnoboba'' are Azerbaijan’s ''tanisliq'' and Armenian ''tsanot'' networks, which are similarly based upon loosely-knit groups of remotely-connected friends and acquaintances. | |||
The term ''natsnoboba'' has two subtly different meanings in the Georgian language, which means that researchers must analyse any use of the term in context. Firstly, ''natsnoboba'' can refer to the ''strategic'' ''use'' of contacts: one’s informal network of acquaintances and familiar individuals, including colleagues and remote friends, but excluding close friends (the latter are considered part of closer and more intimate ''megobroba'' (friendship) groups). However, the word ''natsnoboba'' can also be used in a more general sense, to refer simply to one’s acquaintances in the sense of people one happens to know, with no implications of ‘networks’ or ‘useful contacts’. This dual use of the term makes it challenging to determine specific types of informal relations when referred to in the media. | The term ''natsnoboba'' has two subtly different meanings in the Georgian language, which means that researchers must analyse any use of the term in context. Firstly, ''natsnoboba'' can refer to the ''strategic'' ''use'' of contacts: one’s informal network of acquaintances and familiar individuals, including colleagues and remote friends, but excluding close friends (the latter are considered part of closer and more intimate ''megobroba'' (friendship) groups). However, the word ''natsnoboba'' can also be used in a more general sense, to refer simply to one’s acquaintances in the sense of people one happens to know, with no implications of ‘networks’ or ‘useful contacts’. This dual use of the term makes it challenging to determine specific types of informal relations when referred to in the media. | ||
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The extensive institutional reforms implemented by President Mikheil Saakashvili specifically targeted the use of informal practices, including use of ''natsnoboba'' in dealings with formal institutions. Streamlining the workings of state institutions, reducing their centralisation and bureaucracy and simplifying application procedures for acquiring official documents have significantly undermined the importance of ''natsnoboba'' in this domain. Numerous informants interviewed by the author in 2013-14 stated that since the mid 2000s neither they nor their family members have employed ''natsnoboba'' to receive preferential treatment at state institutions. Nevertheless, ''natsnoboba'' continues to play an important role in the educational sphere and search for jobs <ref>Aliyev, H. 2014. ‘The Effects of the Saakashvili Era Reforms on Informal Practices in the Republic of Georgia’, Studies of Transition States and Societies, 6(1): 21-35.</ref>. For instance, as reported by the Caucasus Barometer (CRRC) survey conducted in 2013, over 30 per cent of respondents indicated that using informal connections remains ‘the most important factor’ in finding a good job. Personal networks are still widely used as community-based mechanisms of support and coping with hardship in urban areas, where for many Georgians the availability of kinship connections became even more limited in the post-communist period. | The extensive institutional reforms implemented by President Mikheil Saakashvili specifically targeted the use of informal practices, including use of ''natsnoboba'' in dealings with formal institutions. Streamlining the workings of state institutions, reducing their centralisation and bureaucracy and simplifying application procedures for acquiring official documents have significantly undermined the importance of ''natsnoboba'' in this domain. Numerous informants interviewed by the author in 2013-14 stated that since the mid 2000s neither they nor their family members have employed ''natsnoboba'' to receive preferential treatment at state institutions. Nevertheless, ''natsnoboba'' continues to play an important role in the educational sphere and search for jobs <ref>Aliyev, H. 2014. ‘The Effects of the Saakashvili Era Reforms on Informal Practices in the Republic of Georgia’, Studies of Transition States and Societies, 6(1): 21-35.</ref>. For instance, as reported by the Caucasus Barometer (CRRC) survey conducted in 2013, over 30 per cent of respondents indicated that using informal connections remains ‘the most important factor’ in finding a good job. Personal networks are still widely used as community-based mechanisms of support and coping with hardship in urban areas, where for many Georgians the availability of kinship connections became even more limited in the post-communist period. | ||
== | ==References== | ||