Unsettled Identity Negotiations: The Armenian Diaspora in Krasnodar Krai.

This chapter, based on ethnographic fieldwork, explores cosmopolitanism through the prism of unifying and dividing processes and their impact on the identity of young Armenians living within the Armenian community in southern Russia’s Krasnodar krai. The empirical research presented shows the ways in which cosmopolitan practices allow young Armenians to draw selectively on a variety of discursive cultural meanings, enabling them to combine sameness and difference into their everyday lives. Sameness is understood in terms of belonging to the Armenian diaspora – a discourse of unity that is encouraged by Armenian voluntary organizations and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Conversely, difference is the result of diverse narratives of migration, different places of origin and different dialects of Armenian language which all serve to form a hierarchy of power within the Armenian diaspora in Krasnodar krai