In March 2011, ASCN issued a call for proposals, open to researchers from and residing in Armenia. Research topics had to be relevant to the themes of transition and fall under the umbrella topic defined specifically for Armenia: “Political Transformation and Social Change”.

The call was highly competitive, with 19 applications submitted by 3 June 2011. Following the evaluation process established by the ASCN Scientific Board, five research projects were selected for funding. In concordance with the programme's aim to assist young researchers, some 9 PhD candidates will be involved with the five research teams. Selected projects have a maximum annual budget of 20 000 Swiss Francs (CHF) and a maximum duration of two years.

Research projects are coordinated by the ASCN Local Coordination Unit (LCU) hosted by the Caucasus Institute Armenia.

The research project intends to study the value of grit as taught through formal and informal education (pre-school, primary and secondary school) in present-day Armenia. The project’s research team understands the concept of “grit” as a set of attributes that includes perseverance, endurance, self-control, hard work, and being oriented toward long-term goals. The terms “formal and informal education” refer to the knowledge, norms, and values acquired from the syllabus in the class-room, on the one hand, and from the so-called “hidden syllabus” in the environment outside the classroom or at home, on the other.

The project is broken down into two stages. During the first year, research will focus on defining how grit is transmitted to pre-school aged children. In the second year, the place grit holds in the education of school-aged children and adolescents will be examined. The research will use a mixture of methods, which include qualitative and quantitative interviews, analyses of existing relevant quantitative data, observation, and the textual, video and audio analysis of documents and teaching materials.

A growing volume of research literature has demonstrated the link between grit developed at an early age and subsequent personal achievement in life. The current research will provide an opportunity to better understand the role attributed to this value in the education system of present-day Armenia as well as trace possible transformations in values after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (grit was a value broadly propagandized by Communist ideology).

Project leader: Tigran Matosyan

Duration: September 2011- August 2013

Post-Soviet societies, like Armenia’s, are facing transformation in their local social networks. These networks have been local and traditional for centuries. Today, however, migration flows brought on by globalization and local economic instability are transforming these traditional networks as well as traditional values. The result is less social cohesion and the replacement of traditional relationships due to global and decentralized communication.

The proposed research project will address these issues, focusing on the transformation of domestic social networks to diaspora structures. On the one hand, these diaspora networks have replaced traditional social ties within Armenian society, causing it to become international. On the other hand, they have distorted social cohesion within the new framework due to migration processes.

The research project proposes creating a model of this process of replacing local networks (based on traditional modes of cohesion) with global, transnational networks.

The general objectives of the project are to:

• describe the structural changes of traditional social networks within the context of Armenian inclusion in world society;
• identify the causes of distortion in social cohesion;
• explain how distorted cohesion disrupts traditional local networks in Armenia and leads to emigration;
• describe the transformation of migration flows into transnational migratory circulation; and,
• identify the ways in which classic diaspora communities are transformed.

Project leader: Artur Atanesyan

Duration: September 2011- August 2013

Post-Soviet transition takes place not only in economic and political spheres, but in cultural, public and everyday life as well. Transformations in one sector of society have critical influence on transitional processes as a whole. In this regard, migrants make up one of the most dynamically transformed groups influencing transition in Armenia. While living in a variety of cultural environments, migrants experience cultural and everyday life transformations. These changes, due to the eventual return of migrants or their steady communication with relatives and family members left behind in Armenia, involve both cultural and social remittances and have a more global effect on the transition process in Armenia.

This research project intends to reveal the primary transformations and innovations in migrants’ everyday life, cultural inflows brought on by migration, and the influence of migrants and migration on the Armenian transition process, particularly with regard to the formation of new public/civic relations, the formation of civil values, civil society, democratization, etc. Driven by a number of unspoken issues and gaps in knowledge, we propose new perspectives on transition issues and will strive to uncover new aspects of the process, particularly with regard to transformations in individuals’ everyday lives during a period of transition, cultural and public aspects of transition as well as new agencies and factors, of which migrants and migration are examples.

Project leader: Aghasi Tadevosyan

Duration: September 2011- June 2013

There is a need to study the changes in values and patterns of social behaviour in Armenian society. Few studies investigating socio-cultural and socio-psychological factors exist, and consequently, the processes of social transformation have not been objectively assessed to date.

The research project intends to achieve the following objectives:

• trace the dynamics and trends of change in cultural value orientations in contemporary Armenian society.
• identify the specifics of value manifestations on both a cultural and individual level as well as identify basal beliefs in the society.
• identify the influence of culturally specific value orientations and beliefs on behavioural attitudes of Armenian citizens, particularly in the domains of social-political and social-economical behaviour.

The research will be carried out using a multilevel and multi-method approach. For understanding the specifics of transformations, we plan to begin with the analysis of global, ethno-cultural, and socio-psychological factors. According to the theoretical model of research, values, beliefs and behaviour can be seen as three levels of public consciousness; the dynamics of and specifics with which they manifest depends on a number of different (top-down and bottom-up) factors. Research methodology will include analyses of existing data from cross-cultural studies on values as well as of data collected by research team through questionnaire-based interviews, semi-structured interviews and focus-groups.

Research results will help to reveal the universal and specific ethno-cultural features of values, beliefs and models of behaviour, as well as indicate tendencies in value-priority changes on both the individual and cultural level.

Project leader: Narine Khachatryan

Duration: September 2011- August 2013

The proposed research will examine patterns of political elite formation in Armenia since its independence. It will also examine the evolution of self-perceptions, values and orientations which dominate in various groups of the political elite. For this project, the term “political elite” will have a broad definition that includes past, current and possible future political decision makers at both national and local levels.

This will enable us to understand the dynamics and structure of the political elite in modern Armenia, explain political decision making practices and core factors affecting that process, compare orientations and preferences of two generations of the elite (formed/socialized before and after independence), and to predict the texture of the political elite in the upcoming ten or so years.

It is anticipated that by the end of the project we will have a comprehensive theory based on extensive empirical data that conceptualizes the patterns and practices of political elite formation in independent Armenia. We also expect to develop a classification of political elite members based on a targeted survey and the analysis of biographies (quantitative data). This component will include descriptions of “ideal types” of political elite representatives, developed from the results of the in-depth interviews and content analysis (qualitative data). Another core component of the research will be the examination and analysis of the self-perception, values and orientations of potential/future political elite members, as reflected in both the political decision making process and the recruitment of political elite members. This analysis will be based on the findings from a representative targeted survey.

Project leader: Hamazasp Danielyan

Duration: September 2011- August 2013