Acta Universitatis Danubius. Relationes Internationales, Vol 11, No 2 (2018)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review political and material deprivation as a basis for social protest during the pre – revolution period in Georgia, within the framework of Relative Deprivation theory. The linkage between relative deprivation and the Gini coefficient, as well type of existing political regime and Soviet past is considered.

The originality of this paper is conditioned by the new approach to Colour Revolutions, forgotten concept of Relative Deprivation is revisited and applied to the Rose Revolution in order to explain, why individuals decided to join demonstrations, as previous studies are considered a precondition for comprehending social protest against rigged elections, either the lack of democracy.

This research is based on a qualitative research methodology, the basic methodological approach being the method of the case study. Among with in – depth interviews based on projective techniques with respondents grouped according to their attitudes towards Rose Revolution, quantitative data of World Bank and Freedom House coefficients are also reviewed.

Empirical analysis of interviews proves the existence of political and material deprivation between social groups for the research period. This research shows the methodological value of Relative Deprivation to explain social movement motivation for the Rose Revolution in Georgia.