ARMENIAN RETURN MIGRATION IN THE DISCOURSE OF LOCAL ELITE

The study is based on interviews with 32 experts on international migration conducted in Yerevan in 2016. This paper aims to analyse their perspectives on return migration, which go beyond the dichotomy of the return as a failure or success. Armenia has a large diaspora and only few migrants and members of the diaspora decide to go back. However, there are such cases and they merit our attention and further analysis. The transnational turn in migration studies showed the importance of the return and the ways how the migration cycle can never be completed. Narratives among the key informants revolve around the issue of old and new diaspora and diasporic consciousness (or patriotism), the issue of a weak state after the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, and uneven development. All of these themes incorporate the top-down and bottom-up perspectives, even though they are a part of the discourse of the key informants working on migration issues and members of the local elite. This study will also highlight the significance of return migration and the Armenian diaspora for the Armenian society's changes.