Sericulture and Environmental Sustainability: Media as a Circular Development Model from 19th-Century Cooperative Practice to Contemporary Rural Revival in Georgia

Abstract

Sericulture in Georgia has historically followed a cyclical trajectory marked by rise, decline, revival, and transformation. Once a
cornerstone of rural economic life and cultural identity, silk production nearly disappeared at the end of the nineteenth century, was artificially revived during the Soviet industrial period, and again declined in the 1990s following systemic political and economic disruption. Yet, the repeated re-emergence of sericulture suggests that local knowledge, community networks, and cultural memory possess a durability that outlives political regimes.

In the twenty-first century, sericulture is reappearing in Georgia not as a centrally orchestrated state program, but as a grassroots initiative emerging from rural communities. Particularly notable is the case of women silk growers in Akhmeta, whose efforts combine local experience, academic consultation, municipal engagement, and media visibility. This contemporary development invites a historical comparison: the cooperative model established in the nineteenth century by Nestor Tsereteli and the current revival promoted through AgroNews and Agrogaremo TV appear to rest on similar foundational principles—knowledge dissemination, collective organization, and public communication.

This study examines these two historical moments comparatively to explore how agricultural production, education, and media function as an integrated ecosystem. It asks whether media can operate not merely as a reporting mechanism, but as an infrastructural component of sustainable rural development.

The nineteenth-century cooperative movement led by Nestor Tsereteli represented more than an economic association. It embodied a circular development model in which agricultural production generated income, income financed education and local institutions, and education strengthened production quality and market competitiveness. Knowledge, cooperation, and communication
formed a self-reinforcing cycle.

In contrast, contemporary sericulture revival in Akhmeta reflects both continuity and disruption. While the principles of cooperation,
knowledge acquisition, and community mobilization persist, the financial circularity between production and knowledge infrastructure appears weakened. Media today amplifies rural voices and facilitates visibility, yet it is rarely financially sustained by the agricultural sector it promotes.

By comparing the nineteenth-century cooperative framework with the twenty-first-century revival movement, this paper investigates how media can function as a sustainability mechanism within rural economic ecosystems. It situates sericulture not only as an agricultural practice but as a case study in circular development, gendered rural entrepreneurship, and media-supported resilience.

Through historical analysis and contemporary case study examination, the research seeks to answer a central question: Can the integration of production, knowledge, and media—once organically connected—be reconstructed as a sustainable model in
modern Georgia?