The first article in the Ethnopolitics special issue is called “Pathways to Conflict Transportation and Autonomisation: The Armenian Diaspora and the Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh”. In this article, DIASCON project members Dr. Élise Féron and Dr. Bahar Baser explore the Armenian diaspora mobilisation in the USA, France and Russia with regards to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The case of Nagorno-Karabakh demonstrates that multiple factors influence how, and to what extent, conflicts are transported in diaspora settings. It also sheds light on processes of conflict autonomisation, whereby transported conflicts focus on different issues, and involve different actors, than conflicts occurring in home countries. Diasporic narratives reflect the political, social and cultural context in countries of residence, notably because they frame issues in ways that are most likely to attract sympathy and support. Other factors, such as the respective sizes and weight of the relevant diasporas, as well as histories of diaspora formation, influence conflict autonomisation patterns.
The article also shows that collective traumas play a significant role in transportation of conflict narratives and their autonomisation. But what the study of this case specifically demonstrates is that diasporic mobilisation is directly impacted by the diasporas’ exclusion or inclusion from political processes back home, and by diaspora engagement policies implemented by their home countries.
The article is available here.