Groupness and Everyday Ethnicity in an Ethnically Diverse Setting: The Case of Tsalka, Georgia

This study examines the role of everyday ethnicity in shaping social interactions, identity formation and groupness in the multi-ethnic district of Tsalka, Georgia. Drawing on qualitative data collected between 2017 and 2023, the article investigates how ethnic identities are continuously constituted and negotiated in daily life. The findings reveal that ethnicity remains a dominant framework through which individuals perceive social reality, shaping property ownership, employment, political representation and language use. By applying the lens of everyday ethnicity, this research contributes to broader debates on ethnicity in rural, multi-ethnic settings, emphasising persistent groupness and the contextual rigidity of ethnic identities.