day events

At the meeting, the opinions of Georgian intellectuals from the 19th century for the establishment of a tolerant society will be discussed. Georgian intellectuals in the 19th century developed a narrative of tolerance of the Georgian nation which laid the foundation for the national self-determination. Intellectuals proclaimed tolerance as a main factor of distinctiveness of the Georgian nation, by which they opposed the Russian imperial policy in Georgia and connected to Western/European liberal values. The narrative of inherent tolerance represented Georgians as a nation residing by the principles of hospitality, treating the "sheltered" ethnic groups in a friendly and good-neighborly manner. Europe became the place from where they brought examples of self organisation, political agency and created the framework civil society which enabled each religious or ethnic group to be integrated in. From the beginning of the 20th century, the narrative of tolerance became a crucial issue among the intellectuals advocating political autonomy for Georgia within the Russian Empire. They were urging that Georgians have never persecuted other ethnic or religious groups in the past and they will not persecute in the future. That is clear evidence of how they employed the past for creating a political future.