Sociologist Diana Bogishvili joins the ZOiS research team

The ZOiS team has a new member: in her dissertation, sociologist Diana Bogishvili focuses on migration by young Georgians to Germany and the impact on the structure of social inequality in their home neighbourhoods in Georgia. Her study covers financial remittances by migrants to friends and family in the home country, as well as social remittances in the form of cultural values and norms, lifestyles and educational or career aspirations. The question of the possible emergence of a migration system and migration culture in Georgia is a key focus of interest. This is of social policy relevance as Georgia is confronted with the problem of a brain drain, with the outmigration of skills greatly facilitated by the European Union’s recent visa liberalisation for Georgians. Diana Bogishvili is planning research periods in Germany and Georgia and will conduct interviews with migrants, their relatives in Georgia and local experts, complemented by ethnographic surveys using participant observation. The project forms part of the Migration and Diversity Research Area at ZOiS.

Diana Bogishvili is completing her doctoral studies at Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences at Humboldt University. At ZOiS, she will contribute to the Centre’s research and communication activities, for example through collaboration on publications and events. Diana Bogishvili studied Philosophy at Tbilisi State University in Georgia and Sociology at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Prior to her doctoral studies, she taught at Ilia State University and Caucasus University and conducted research at the Center for Social Sciences (CSS), all in Tbilisi. At CSS, she directed a research project on Georgian National Identity: Conflict and Integration. She also studied the integration of national minorities in Georgia. Her other research interests are migration and transnational relations; transformation of social inequalities; national minorities; and sociology of education and employment.