Georgian social democracy was the most successful social democratic movement in the Russian Empire. Despite its small size, it produced many of the leading revolutionary figures of 1917, including Irakli Tsereteli, Karlo Chkheidze, Noe Zhordania, and Joseph Stalin. In the first of two volumes, Stephen Jones writes the first history in English of this undeservedly neglected national movement, which represented one of the earliest examples of European social democracy at the turn of the twentieth century. 
Georgian social democracy was part of the Russian social democracy from which Bolshevism and Menshevism emerged. But innovative theoretical programs and tactics led Georgian social democracy down an independent path. The powerful Georgian organization united all native classes behind it, and it set a remarkable precedent for many of the anti-colonial nationalist movements of the twentieth century. At the same time, Georgian social democracy was committed to a "European" path, a "third way" that attempted to combine grassroots democracy, private manufacturing, and private land ownership with socialist ideology.
One of the few Western historians fluent in Georgian, Jones fills major gaps in the history of revolutionary and national movements of the Russian Empire.

Socialism in Georgian Colors: The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883–1917

History

Jones, Stephen F.

Americas

Harvard University Press

Review\n"Georgia: From Autocracy to Democracy provides a comprehensive guide to the political, economic, and international development of Georgia from 1991 to the present. It is a unique and invaluable aid to students of the region, as well as diplomats, foreign ministry, and international organization personnel dealing with Georgia." -- Jeremy Smith, Director of the VERA Centre for Russian and Border Studies, University of Eastern Finland\n"Georgia: From Autocracy to Democracy draws on an impressive list of contributors, both Georgian and non-Georgian, new and well-established, who provide a rich portrait of the country’s progress in the local and international context." -- Thomas de Waal, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe\nReflecting on the deep and complex changes in Georgian politics over the last quarter of a century, this book highlights the domestic and international developments that have shaped Georgia as a state and society. Georgia: From Autocracy to Democracy covers a wide array of topics, including the economy, elections, judicial and educational systems, relations with the EU, and Georgia’s interaction with its regional neighbours, including Russia, Turkey, and Iran. 
In the book, Georgian policy-makers, practitioners, and scholars who have worked in the administration, in the opposition, in the Third Sector, and in academia provide first-hand perspectives on Georgia’s political and economic life. They demonstrate unusual insight into the extraordinary transformations in Georgia over the last twenty-five years, from the authoritarianism of President Gamsakhurdia, through the experience of civil war in the 1990s, to democracy today.

Georgia: From Autocracy to Democracy

MacFarlane, Neil

University of Toronto Press

Georgia emerged from the fall of the Soviet empire in 1991 with the promise of swift economic and democratic reform. But that promise remains unfulfilled. Economic collapse, secessionist challenges, civil war and the failure to escape the legacy of Soviet rule - culminating in the 2008 war with Russia - characterise a two-decade struggle to establish democratic institutions and consolidate statehood. Here, Stephen Jones critically analyses Georgia's recent political and economic development, illustrating what its 'transition' has meant, not just for the state, but for its citizens as well. An authoritative and commanding exploration of Georgia since independence, this is essential for those interested in the post-Soviet world.

Georgia: A Political History Since Independence

Europe

I.B.Tauris

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Books by Jones, Stephen F.