Invoking the EU: Civil Society's Response to Autocratisation in Georgia

The article is co-authored by Mélody Gugelmann (University of Fribourg) and Anastasia Mgaliblishvili (Freie Universität Berlin) and currently under review. 

Paper abstract:
This paper analyses how Georgian civil society resisted autocratisation by leveraging the government’s rhetorical and formal commitment to European Union (EU) integration. Using process tracing, we examine three episodes between 2022–2024: the refusal to apply for EU candidacy, the initial “foreign agents” law, and its reintroduction. Drawing on public statements, media coverage, and eight interviews, we apply the rhetorical entrapment framework to show how civil society invoked EU norms to expose hypocrisy, mobilise “activated citizenship” (Cavatorta 2013), and attract international support. Entrapment proved effective when the government needed a pro-EU image but weakened once incumbents embraced autocratisation despite retaining EU rhetoric.