For the past ten years, human rights language has increasingly been employed by Armenian citizens when interacting with state actors in public spaces to protest government wrongdoings and press for change. This book examines the citizens’ exercise of their civil and political rights to put up claims regarding their social, economic and other rights through collective action as a platform for their claims-making. Through the research of key human rights actors, this book explores the ways in which universal human rights are debated, practiced, violated and experienced in Armenia. It reveals significant transformations with regard to both perceptions and practices of the notion of ‘a rights-bearing citizen’ manifest in speech and action, confrontations and interactions in ‘The Street’.

Liana Geghamyan was born in Armenia. She holds a master’s degree in Gender, Culture and Society from the University of Essex, UK, and another master‘s degree in Human Rights from the University of Sussex, UK. She also successfully completed a Ph.D. in Global Studies at the University of Leipzig. Her research interests include human rights theory and practice, sociology of rights, social movement studies and political participation.