Diasporan Perspectives – Call for Papers

In recent years, Armenia has been through a series of upheavals. The 2018 Velvet Revolution brought hope of change after years of stagnation. It was followed by the Second Karabakh War in 2020 and, in 2023, by Azerbaijan’s takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh and the departure of its entire Armenian population.

After the 2020 war, a research project supported by the Foundation led to two publications on the conflict. This call widens that project’s scope to take stock of 35 years of independence, with research reaching back to the Karabakh Movement of 1988. It asks what structural problems lay behind the shocks of 2018, 2020 and 2023, whether the Velvet Revolution changed the country’s socio-economic structure, and how institutions and decision-making have evolved.

The research covers three periods:

• the Soviet collapse and independence, including the transfer of power to a new political class and the mass privatisation of the economy;
• two decades of stabilisation and oligarchic rule, during which the state’s institutions and economic system took shape;
• the years since 2018, marked by revolution, war and uncertainty.

Proposals may fall within four areas: political elites, structures and discourses; the state and its institutions; infrastructure; and future trends. The Call Conditions document lists 34 suggested topics. The list is indicative, and other topics are welcome.