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

Women Confronting Death:War Widows’ Experiences in the South Caucasus

Widowhood is an under-recognized, albeit significant, aspect of life all over the world. The scant literature on contemporary narratives of widowhood among women as a consequence of conflicts indicates that this aspect of lived experience is relatively underexplored. Although loss is integral to life in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus, it has been overlooked because of the unsettled politics in the region. Since the end of the full-scale war in 1994, the self-declared, internationally unrecognized republic has been locked in a protracted conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. This longstanding conflict has had severe consequences for society in this region. Sporadic clashes along the border of Nagorno-Karabakh are not a rare occurrence. Thus, for women married to soldiers, confronting death is not something rare in the everyday life of the region. The purpose of this article is to examine the everyday experiences, understanding and reworking of widowhood there. The article is intended to open up the hitherto neglected subject of widowhood as affected by violent fighting in this part of the world and to create awareness of the importance of the topic

Emotions, loss and change:Armenian women and post-socialist transformations in Nagorny Karabakh.

Based on empirical data obtained from ethnographic fieldwork in Nagorny Karabakh (NK),the article analyses gender as one fundamental but neglected dimension of post-conflict society. In particular, this article examines changing gender relations as a result of the political transformations occurring during and after the Karabakh conflict (1990-2000). The focus is on two groups of women residing in Martuni, a small town in NK. The first\ud group includes local Armenian women, the second Armenian women from Azerbaijan,forced to resettle in Martuni. In this way, the article not only explores how the status of\ud these women and their dependency has changed as a result of the political transformations,but also how gender roles and identities are negotiated when the region of resettlement is\ud not completely unfamiliar to new arrivals. The article concludes by highlighting these Armenian women’s contradictory, yet similar experiences in terms of prevalent gender constructions. In doing so, the article expands research on gender and political\ud transformations in post-socialist regions and beyond

Quantitative comparison of presumed-number-density and quadrature moment methods for the parameterisation of drop sedimentation

In numerical weather prediction models, parameterisations are used as an alternative to spectral modelling. One type of parameterisations are the so-called methods of moments. In the present study, two different methods of moments, a presumed-number-density-function method with finite upper integration limit and a quadrature method, are applied to a one-dimensional test case (‘rainshaft’) for drop sedimentation. The results are compared with those of a reference spectral model. An error norm is introduced, which is based on several characteristic properties of the drop ensemble relevant to the cloud microphysics context. This error norm makes it possible to carry out a quantitative comparison between the two methods. It turns out that the two moment methods presented constitute an improvement regarding two-moment presumed-number-density-function methods from literature for a variety of initial conditions. However, they are excelled by a traditional three-moment presumed-number-density-function method which requires less computational effort. Comparisons of error scores and moment profiles reveal that error scores alone should not be taken for a comparison of parameterisations, since moment profile characteristics can be lost in the integral value of the error norm

The Impact of Conflict and Militarization on the Lives of Women and LGBT Persons in Armenia

The most recent 2022 Global Militarization Index ranked Armenia among the top ten most militarized countries in the world. During militarization, the institution of the military assumes a central role in society, with its values permeating almost every area of life. This article explores the complexities and challenges of life in Armenia’s militarized society from the perspective of women and LGBT1 persons. Militarization not only perpetuates patriarchal gender relations but also enforces trans- and homophobic environments based on cis- and heteronormative values. Thus, this article examines the impact of conflict and militarization on gender equality norms, such as the protection of women against violence, as well as the fight for LGBT rights