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This paper is about the psychological effect of war. By the welding of the explanatory potential of psychoanalysis and anthropology, it argues that victims of armed conflict, particularly if protracted, construct a melancholic response (Yordanova, 2018). Often, people on the move are met with hostility by the host countries or may find themselves in the social periphery. This fosters ambivalence towards the new environment as an expression of vulnerabilities. The paper suggests an intergenerational aspect to the above dynamic, too. Children, exposed to violence, lack the emotional and cognitive maturity to grasp what they have lived through. Yet, overwhelmed with their own feelings of loss, their parents fail to help them deal with the trauma. Thus, children identify with the parents’ complicated grief and the assumption of an idealized pre-war past versus scarce future opportunities. Finally, the paper examines the intersections between individual war trauma, cultural memory and power dynamics in post-conflict societies. Using my field work in Sarajevo (2012, 2018), I argue that war survivors avoid the construction of a consistent war narrative in the first person because they need the state-recognized version of history to be re-written (Yordanova, 2015). The ambiguity of their experience in war, the inadequacy of language to convey horror, and the clash of private memories with the official discourse drive them to alternative forms of expression. Survivors and their children use art, humour, tattoos, scarring, and landscape to explain the war and get connected to each other. In the post-war environment, the narrative of veterans who were most exposed to warfare becomes muted in order not to challenge the political status-quo.

Current research article is devoted to the exploration of women’s rights protection movement in modern Armenian society. The exploration of the current situation of the women’s rights protection movement in modern Armenian society includes two components. Firstly, through an analysis of documents (the Soviet state’s first codes of different years), the study examines the evolution of the women's rights protection social movement from the Soviet Union. This investigation illustrates how the Soviet Union’s political system had formed and shaped the women’s movement, which also affected the further development of the movement in modern Armenian society. Secondly, this research paper is based on an analysis of 34 in-depth interviews performed in Yerevan city from 2020-2023, with informants engaged in different types of women’s rights protection activism during the last 20 years in Armenian society. Information gathered from interviews allowed us to split the history of the development of the movement into two time-lapses in modern Armenian society. Triangulation of qualitative document analysis and in-depth interviews, equally contributed to the understanding of the main features of the women’s rights protection social movement as a whole social phenomenon in Armenian modern society. One of the key findings of the research is that despite the existence of diverse groups of women’s rights protection activists and just individuals coping with social system gender inequalities, there is difficulties in establishing social movement in modern Armenian society. The most prevailing definitions of social movements assume non-institutionalized collective actions with a clear set of goals. Instead, what currently exists in modern Armenian society is a form of street activism organized by efforts of different institutionalized organizations, where people engage in sporadic protests to raise awareness about gender issues and gender inequality. The paper also sheds light on social obstacles that prevent the initiative from becoming an institutionalized social movement for women’s rights protection in Armenia. The main social-cultural obstacles can be seen as a combination of factors including the absence of a general feminist agenda, lack of structural strain pushing for mobilization and social conservatism, etc.

This paper discusses the role of the societal discourse in the construction of breastfeeding practices. It argues that societal discourse is crucial to the constitution of those practices, and that understanding the underlying circumstances of the breastfeeding situation anywhere in the world requires looking not only at the social reality itself but at the discourse that represents, reflects and constructs it. Proposing Armenia as a study case, the paper outlines the various sources of modern discursive practices around the feeding of children in Armenia, including pre-industrial customs, soviet political ideology, and modern Western values. Doing so, it proposes a new approach to studying breastfeeding practices through the prism of various discursive influences.

Recent computing power and storage advancements have meant more data are being collected and stored. Referred to as 'Big data', these data sources offer researchers myriad opportunities to make observations about the social world. These data can be massive, provide insight into whole populations rather than just a sample, and be used to analyse social behaviour in real time. Administrative data, a subcategory under the big data umbrella, also offers researchers abundant opportunities to conduct highly relevant research in many areas, including sociology, social policy, education, health studies and many more. This paper offers reflections on social research during the digital age by examining different forms of data, both 'big' and 'small', and their associated advantages and disadvantages. The paper concludes by suggesting that although big data has some promising elements, it also comes with some limitations and povwill not replace 'traditional' social surveys. And yet, when used in conjunction with social surveys, appropriately and ethically, big data could offer the researchers additional valuable insights.

Recent computing power and storage advancements have meant more data are being collected and stored. Referred to as 'Big data', these data sources offer researchers myriad opportunities to make observations about the social world. These data can be massive, provide insight into whole populations rather than just a sample, and be used to analyse social behaviour in real time. Administrative data, a subcategory under the big data umbrella, also offers researchers abundant opportunities to conduct highly relevant research in many areas, including sociology, social policy, education, health studies and many more. This paper offers reflections on social research during the digital age by examining different forms of data, both 'big' and 'small', and their associated advantages and disadvantages. The paper concludes by suggesting that although big data has some promising elements, it also comes with some limitations and povwill not replace 'traditional' social surveys. And yet, when used in conjunction with social surveys, appropriately and ethically, big data could offer the researchers additional valuable insights.

This paper is a theoretical overview that designs and proposes a novel analytical framework within sociology of conflict for studying the origins of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at group level. This article discusses the theories on horizontal inequalities and sociopsychological infrastructure in intractable conflicts, focusing on the question of the emergence of the Karabakh movement. Building on the synthesis of macro and micro theoretical approaches, the paper reflects upon possible ways of exploring the roots of the conflict by bridging social structure with social agency, and morphological knowledge with individual experience. Thereby, stemming from the central arguments of the examined theories, I construct an epistemological scheme, thus essentially capturing the main findings of this theoretical-methodological overview. The analytical framework brought forward in this paper may potentially serve as a foundation for operational design of a meso-level analysis of the causes of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The paper discusses the concept of a "shock-responsive social protection system", the main options for shock-responsive social protection: including design tweaks, piggybacking, horizontal and vertical expansions, and alignment. Some key criteria are discussed in terms of evaluating the ability of social protection system to respond to emergencies. Some conclusions are presented as offers in terms of preparing for an effective response to shocks as well.

To discover the geopolitical orientation and opinions of the Armenia’s youth regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine in the context of regional security issues, a sociological study was conducted in Yerevan and Armenia’s provinces in 2022. It was carried out by specialists from the Faculty of Sociology of the Yerevan State University, in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation office in Armenia, and Socies expert center. The study aimed to discover the youth’s perceptions of the reasons for Russia’s war in Ukraine, which started on February 24, 2022, including its possible impact on the region. The research was carried out from October 22, 2022 to November 22, 2022 with youth (18-35 age group) residing in Yerevan (the capital of Armenia) and all provinces of Armenia, using the focus group discussion method. In this paper, we discuss conclusions drawn from focus group discussions with Yerevan residents. The perceptions of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict by Armenia’s youth refers to its geopolitical nature, to the interests of Russia, NATO, EU, USA, Turkey in the post-Soviet space, as well as to personal qualities, approaches, and issues of the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. In general, according to Armenian young people, Armenia should remain as neutral as possible in its position on the war in Ukraine, taking no side in this conflict.

Contemporary gender norms and attitudes in Armenia have been shaped by a complex interplay of pre-Soviet traditional culture, the legacy of the Soviet socialist modernization project, and the post-Soviet spread of western ideas and values. The paper examines generational differences in gender norms and attitudes in Armenian society, by comparing three generational groups. The mixed-method analysis is based on quantitative and qualitative data, including the nationally-representative household-based Gender Barometer Survey conducted in 2014, as well as in-depth interviews and focus group discussions among members of different generational groups in Armenia during 2015-2020. The results of the factor analysis show considerable generational complexity in gender norms and attitudes. We find that the majority of Armenian society, regardless of gender and generation, strongly adheres to the core family values and the corresponding gendered family roles. At the same time, the analyses show that individuals who belong to the older generation, i.e., the generation whose socialization took place under Soviet rule, display the most conservative patriarchal gender attitudes. The middle generation, whose coming of age occurred during the period of the early radical post-Soviet transformation, demonstrate inconsistent gender attitudes: while adhering to conservative gender norms, they are also most dissatisfied with the state of gender equality and in some aspects, such as achievement of status and wealth, display considerable gender egalitarianism. Finally, the youngest generation generally subscribes to the most egalitarian attitudes, but this group is far from homogenous, demonstrating a sharp divide between urban dwellers, who are very egalitarian-minded, and rural ones, who are remarkably conservative. Notably, young women living in cities display by far the most egalitarian attitudes. Moreover, among men, the generation is not a significant predictor of the level of egalitarianism in gender attitudes, compared to education and area of residence (city/village). However, it has a more significant impact on women’s perception of the traditional gender scheme. We conclude with a discussion of the role of changes in gender norms and attitudes in a broader transformation of Armenian society.

Contemporary gender norms and attitudes in Armenia have been shaped by a complex interplay of pre-Soviet traditional culture, the legacy of the Soviet socialist modernization project, and the post-Soviet spread of western ideas and values. The paper examines generational differences in gender norms and attitudes in Armenian society, by comparing three generational groups. The mixed-method analysis is based on quantitative and qualitative data, including the nationally-representative household-based Gender Barometer Survey conducted in 2014, as well as in-depth interviews and focus group discussions among members of different generational groups in Armenia during 2015-2020. The results of the factor analysis show considerable generational complexity in gender norms and attitudes. We find that the majority of Armenian society, regardless of gender and generation, strongly adheres to the core family values and the corresponding gendered family roles. At the same time, the analyses show that individuals who belong to the older generation, i.e., the generation whose socialization took place under Soviet rule, display the most conservative patriarchal gender attitudes. The middle generation, whose coming of age occurred during the period of the early radical post-Soviet transformation, demonstrate inconsistent gender attitudes: while adhering to conservative gender norms, they are also most dissatisfied with the state of gender equality and in some aspects, such as achievement of status and wealth, display considerable gender egalitarianism. Finally, the youngest generation generally subscribes to the most egalitarian attitudes, but this group is far from homogenous, demonstrating a sharp divide between urban dwellers, who are very egalitarian-minded, and rural ones, who are remarkably conservative. Notably, young women living in cities display by far the most egalitarian attitudes. Moreover, among men, the generation is not a significant predictor of the level of egalitarianism in gender attitudes, compared to education and area of residence (city/village). However, it has a more significant impact on women’s perception of the traditional gender scheme. We conclude with a discussion of the role of changes in gender norms and attitudes in a broader transformation of Armenian society.

The socio-economic, political, and even cultural consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic are more than obvious. They affect the whole world and are relevant in all spheres and levels of social and public life. Numerous anti-pandemic measures, mainly the closure of borders, restrictions on the movement of citizens, and isolation hit the businesses and economies of different volumes and intensities. The spheres of tourism and services are special here and the ones where the organization of activities is based on the circulation of people and face-to-face interactions. The effective functioning of a number of social institutions was disrupted. Negative consequences were also relevant in the case of various migration flows. Having been actively involved in the migration for many years, the Armenian society is not immune to the effects of Covid-19. Based on the available literature, articles, reports, various publications and rich statistical data, the article presents in detail the impact of the pandemic on Armenian migration processes. The paper introduces the migration context of Armenia, the effects of the pandemic on the activities of a number of migrants and related groups. Conflicts of adapting to and overcoming the crisis, formal and informal tactics, approaches and practices are analyzed.

The paper is a theoretical review of “social movement” term definitions. Aiming to show differences among definitions within different paradigms and scientific evolution of the term the main approaches of defining social movements are discussed. Initially, social movements were studied by psychologists, who were examining different forms of collective behavior, such as mobs, crowds, protests and etc. Most of them considered social movements as an irrational and destructive form of collective action driven by the instincts of people. During the next decades, the theory of social movements was developed mostly by sociologists who, on the contrary, started to seek social reasons inducing this type of collective action. Different theoretical schools proposed various concepts of explaining the origin of social movements, but all of them agreed on the main characteristics: rational and organized collective action driven by unfulfilled social needs. Different authors linked social movement definitions with other important social phenomena such as norms and values, social conflict, social identity, and social network. Political scientists have also contributed to the study of social movements but in terms of power and state, terrorism and violence. Discussing psychological, sociological, and political science approaches to term definition we came to the conclusion that the most inclusive sociological definition is viewing social movement as a social network through which collective action is performed to achieve total or partial social change. Such kind of definition makes it possible to reveal the main criteria necessary to distinguish social movement as a separate social phenomenon from other types of collective action.

In recent years on the background of Syrian civil war, an increasing flow of refugees to European countries was observed. The intensity of these migration processes raises the complexity of problems related to refugee’s safe mobility and integration processes accompanied by strict and enclosed migration policy in many European countries. In the crater of these developments, the role of civil society gets more significance. Particularly fictionalization of CS institutions defined with instrumental and discursive meanings, on the one hand, manifests itself by humanitarian-supportive, voluntary missions of CS subjects, on the other hand with articulated critical discourse and different forms of its implication (New social movements, for instance) in the sphere of CS. Thus, this paper based on the analysis of iconographic elements of CS discourse explores the hegemonic role of liberal democratic orientations and normative value systems, as well as discursive implementations of transnational paradigm.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the “importation” of democratic and liberal ideologies in line with fundamental social and political transformations led to the change in the discourse on the Armenian rural lifestyle, in the place identities and in self-governing systems. Reform, directed to the development of self-government system in the Post-Soviet Armenia, the social programs meaning to overcome the social issues of the Armenian rural communities, formed a new geopolitical situation, that simultaneously tremendously changing local realities of rurality. Social problems linked to land use, family welfare, migration, place attachment and attraction with urban lifestyles have been actual up to present day, especially among the young people. Observation of place identity as a locally and spatially conditioned phenomenon is common presently in the study of social issues of local communities. According to contemporary sociological approaches, place identity has social prefixes and is reflexive towards social space. The aim of the research is to reveal the changes in place identity and place attachment features within the Armenian rural communities through examination of youth’s perceptions around the rural lifestyle. Relying on secondary analysis of the research data, in-depth interviews among villagers and focus group discussions (8 FGD among village youth) the paper discusses the dynamic interrelation of place identity, social space structures and changing social practices in the Armenian rural communities.

In this paper, main determinants of internal and external migration from the communities of Armenia were reviewed. Based on the Human capital model of migration, ordinary regression models, as well as spatial econometrical models were estimated, particularly spatial autoregressive model and spatial error model. Geographically weighted regression was estimated in order to show the distribution of the determinants of migration on the map.

In the paper, the main difficulties concerning the teaching of quantitative and qualitative methods in modern sociology are reviewed in the context of the situation in educational systems of countries in the post-Soviet space. Some innovative educational methods complexes are developed for solving the mentioned problems.

The concept of Information Society is a theoretical model, which assures understanding and analyzing ongoing transformations of the contemporary society. Quantitative changes of information have shaped qualitatively new type of social order, that is to say Information Society. It forms our lifestyle, the way we live and do business, educate our children, teach and learn, spend our leisure time and so on and so forth. Information Society is a new socio-cultural reality, where the society and economic relations are primarily based on information and knowledge. The paper aims at analyzing various theories regarding Information Society, due to which main directions of changes in key areas of social life are identified. Changes that create our everyday life not only affect the way people interact or live, but also require new structures of identity.