Young People's Attachment to and Sense of Belonging in Armenia amid War and Displacement

Abstract

This article explores the sense of belonging in the Republic of Armenia since the 2020 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia among young working-age Armenians who were born in the country and newcomers from Syria (since the start of the Syrian War in 2011) and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The article focuses on the complexity of belonging in Armenia, examining both attachment to the physical territory of the Republic of Armenia and to a broader symbolic, transnational Armenian identity. This exploration is situated within both national and international contexts, as the experiences of young Armenians are shaped not only by local factors but also by their connections to the Armenian diaspora and broader factors affecting global migration, notably the wars in Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine. This sociological study contributes to diaspora and return migration literature by employing a mixed-methods approach, including surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Its intersectional and transnational perspective compares the experiences of local Armenians with displaced people from Artsakh (Artsakhtsis) and Syrian-Armenians, while also acknowledging differences that reflect national origin, age, and gender. Our findings highlight distinct expressions of belonging across these different groups, and notably tensions between newcomers’ self-identities and others’ perceptions of them, as they try to reconcile their own sense of belonging to a symbolic or “imagined” national community with the realities of life in the Republic of Armenia. While locals and displaced people from Artsakh (Artsakhtsis) feel more “at home,” Syrian-Armenians face greater challenges to feeling that they belong. At the same time, we found that all groups consider symbolic markers of Armenian identity, including self-identification, language, and cultural heritage, to be more important than physical or primordial markers such as ancestry or place of birth, though local Armenians place relatively more importance on the latter than Syrian or Artsakhtsi newcomers. Overall, respondents who strongly identified with Armenia as their permanent home tended to view the country more positively than those who did not, emphasizing its welcoming nature and capacity to address socio-economic challenges. By examining belonging among young people in Armenia, newcomers and locals, and exploring how national, ethnic, and socio-demographic factors shape their attachment within both local and international contexts, this article contributes to migration and diaspora studies conceptually, methodologically, and empirically.