Armine Ishkanian
Since 2010, protests sparked by civic initiatives have become
very common in Armenia’s capital Yerevan and, to a lesser extent, in the
smaller cities of Gyumri and Vanadzor. Civic initiatives in Armenia address a
range of issues including the environment, cultural preservation, consumer
rights, labour and employment issues, as well as human rights. However, they are
distinct from formal, professionalized NGOs in a number of key aspects, which
include the issues they address, their organizational structures, their repertories
of action, and their lack of engagement with foreign donors.
Similar to the movements discussed by Kerstin
Jacobsen, Ionel
Sava and others recently in openMovements, civic
initiatives in Armenia represent a new wave of civic activism in the
post-Soviet period.
