Connection without Engagement: Paradoxes of North American Armenian Return Migration

Abstract

Return migration from the diaspora to the ancestral homeland has emerged as an important sub-field within migration studies. The scholarship has introduced new ways of understanding migratory trajectories by exploring the roles of migrants' ethnicity and imagination and has identified novel ways of unpacking migratory patterns whose motivations are not centered on economic mobility. But the scholarship has begged the question by documenting the ethnic and sentimental motivations that make migration incomprehensible and the unexpected difficulties returnees encounter once they have settled in their perceived homelands. The current research project investigates the experiences of North American Armenians who have "returned" to Armenia. It seeks to extend the existing theoretical framework by demonstrating how ancestral returnees sustain a powerful feeling of connection to a country while simultaneously harboring a sense of disengagement from local practices.

Transnationalism and the permanence of return in Armenian return migration

“…Stejně důležitý je i pocit začlenění do komunity a procesy, které zahrnují ekonomické a psychosociální aspekty a zároveň sociální sítě navrátilců [Ruben, van Houte, Davids 2009]. Pro mnohé navrátilce je však návrat spojený s těžkostmi a mnozí z nich poté čelí určité míře rozčarování [Fittante 2017;Kasbarian 2015]. Autoři často kladou důraz na ponávratovou ztrátu iluzí a těžkosti v řešení situace.…”

Constructivist theories of political incorporation

“…For Armenians, the country of Armenia has recently become a salient attribute of Armenian identity. Prior to its independence from the Soviet Union, many Armenians in the Diaspora did not consider Armenia a central dimension of their ethnic identity (Fittante, 2017b). However, subsequent to its independence, the attribute salience of Armenia has heightened considerably.…”

The Armenians of Glendale: An Ethnoburb in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley

“…For example, the Displaced Persons Act exempted several thousand Soviet Armenian refugees stranded in settlement camps following World War II. Streams of Armenians fleeing upheaval in Bulgaria, Romania, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon Palestine, and Syria relocated to several American industrial cities (Fittante 2017a(Fittante , 2017bMirak 1983). But the largest waves of multipolar Armenian migrations occurred from the mid-1960s onward.…”

“…An extended note on positionality: During the academic year 2015‐2016, I lived in Yerevan and worked as a guest lecturer at the American University of Armenia. During this time, I conducted research on North American Armenian return migration to Armenia (see Fittante ). The experiences gleaned from this fieldwork also enriched my understanding of Armenian culture, perceptions, and language.…”