"Diaspora(s) arménienne(s) en mouvement : Espaces, acteurs et pratiques au 21ème siècle"

International audienceSince diaspora studies emerged in the 1980s, the Armenian dispersion has played a prominent role in the scholarly literature seeking to understand and classify the nature, forms, and effects of diasporas as social formations.Although the notion of diaspora is multifaceted – changing based on the cases observed, criteria retained, disciplinary fields, and its dissemination and use by various actors, the Armenian experience, along with the Greek and Jewish cases, is widely discussed in works attempting to establish typologies of uprooted communities as well as in the efforts to compare the diasporas considered paradigmatic. However, 40 years after the rise of diaspora studies, one has to admit that far from offering a stable paradigm, the Armenian diaspora (an expression that should be used in the plural) has undergone numerous transformations. This is partly due to the ebb and flow of geopolitics, new technological developments, and socio-economic changes in the historical centers of the Armenian presence.The objective of this 2-day conference is to reflect on the contemporary reshapings of the Armenian diaspora(s), revealing their diversity and the new dynamics at work. ●How have succeeding migration histories and the heterogeneity of cohorts transformed diasporic spaces and Armenian communities?●How have the various actors/stakeholders of the “old” diasporas responded to the demographic, political, and socio-cultural issues arising from the new context? What new actors have emerged?●What impact have different kinds of “return” migrations had, whether they involve settling in the (“step-”)homeland, making pilgrimages to historical Armenia, or volunteering for international or local NGOs, thereby combining tourism with assistance to the country and self-discovery? How can the notion of homeland be reframed by the co-presence of a real homeland, and an imaginary or surrogate homeland? ●What new diasporic loci have emerged in the Armenian world? What roles do they play in this new set of dynamics?●How does language reflect the ongoing changes occurring within Armenian diasporas?●What roles do the media and social networks play on these transformations? ●How can we map out the contemporary Armenian dispersion, as well as the spaces, dynamics, practices, actors, and discourses that compose it? Which fields should be further explored to refine our understanding of the vast diasporic web? Which actors are interested in unpacking it, why, and what tools and resources do they use?●What lessons can be drawn from other case studies? Beyond the classical comparisons between “textbook diasporas”, what other examples can be explored to better grasp and gauge what is currently at stake