STSM on Georgian migrant women’s socio-economic ties and transnational religious affiliation

COREnet member Dr. Davide Nicola Carnevale (University of Ferrara, Italy) visited Ilia State University in Georgia to research socio-economic ties and transnational religious belonging of Georgian migrant women.

Dr. Davide Nicola Carnavale’s Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) was the pivotal part of a multi-site collaborative research project dedicated to the transnational forms of religious belonging and socio-economic engagement of women of Georgian origins who migrated to Italy. The research aimed to trace their biographies and analyse the transnational socio-economic ties they enacted, with a focus on the transformations of their forms of belonging and participation in Christian Orthodox religious groups. After a preliminary fieldwork activity carried out in Bari, an Italian city among the top destinations for migrants with Georgian origins, the project followed their social and religious biographies backwards.

The research has been based on fieldwork activities and interviews with women with a migration background and representatives of local Orthodox communities. Furthermore, it was enriched by meetings with Georgian scholars and representatives of the Georgian State Agency for Religious Issues and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Georgia.

The research project supports the aim to strengthen intersectional perspectives in research about migration and religious diversity, especially concerning gender diversity. Secondly, it introduces the role and positionality of Georgian migrants within the Orthodox congregations in Italy and Georgia, enlarging the scientific state-of-the-art of research in the field of migration and religious diversity.

Focusing on the different practices of religious mobilisation by Georgian migrant women, the upcoming scientific publication will spotlight the intersections between these experiences of migration and the transformation of Orthodox multi-local forms of belonging and religiosity.

In the photo: Dr. Davide Nicola Carnevale with Father Miqael Jibladze.

What is a Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) within COREnet?

A Short-Term Scientific Mission, funded by the COST Action COREnet, consists of a visit to a host organization located in a different country to the country of affiliation of a Researcher in order to carry out specific work as part of a research project. In addition to research purposes, Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) are aimed to support researchers’ individual mobility, to strengthen existing networks and to foster collaboration between individuals. The purpose of a STSM is thus to gain new partnerships, to learn new techniques and to gain access to specific data, instruments and/or methods not available in their own institutions/organizations.