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July 29, 2004
ACNIS Takes on the Challenges of Armenian Culture and Values
Yerevan—The Armenian Center for National and International
Studies (ACNIS) convened today a roundtable discussion on
“The Challenges of Culture and Value System in Armenia.”
As part of the forum, the Center released the results of
its specialized opinion survey, entitled “Value and
Ideology Benchmarks: Imperatives and Alternatives,”
which involved more than 50 experts from Yerevan and across
Armenia.
ACNIS director of administration Karapet Kalenchian greeted
the invited guests and public participants with opening
remarks. “These deliberations on culture, together
with the expert survey preceding them, aim to present one
focus group’s professional perceptions of ideology
guideposts which are characteristic of a transitional period,
as well as the true role and place of our system of values
and patterns of cultural development,” he said.
ACNIS legal and political affairs analyst Stepan Safarian
focused in detail on the findings of the expert opinion
polls. Accordingly, the majority of the surveyed experts
assert that Armenian society today does not have clearly-defined
value-based guidelines. 4% of experts find it difficult
to answer this question, and only 6% give a positive answer.
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| Society
cannot clearly define value-based benchmarks |
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According to 20% of respondents, the system of values
operating in everyday life is the continuation by inertia
of the system formed during the Soviet years, 10% think
it comes to us from the depth of centuries, and 50% are
convinced that it has been formed during the years of independence.
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It is the continuation
by inertia of the system formed
during the Soviet years
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20% |
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It has been formed
during the years of independence
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50% |
| It comes
to us from the depth of centuries |
10% |
- Soviet system of
values is not functional,
while the new one is not finally established
marginal and eclectic
- It has been formed
during the years of independence
- It comes to us from
the depth of centuries
- It comes from the
depth of centuries together with our
era’s “isms”
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The experts are of the opinion that Armenian society often
favors personal values and their manifestations, with egocentrism
(90%) prevailing over altruism. Regarding group interests,
96% are of the opinion that society favors clan interests
over collectivism. On the level of national values, 44%
and 48%, respectively, choose nationalism and patriotism,
and 80% and 72% cite the human values of cosmopolitanism
and humanitarianism, respectively.
48% of respondent specialists think that the benchmarks
of societal values should be defined by liberal democracy,
18% social democracy, and 18% national democracy.
- Synthesis of liberal democracy
and national ideology
- Synthesis of social democracy
and national ideology
- Synthesis of all that will
provide diversity,
consensus, and tolerance in public life
- National-spiritual system
of values
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6% of participants point to the supremacy of group interests
as the primary obstacle to deepening of the democratic system
of values adopted by the Armenian public, while 20% blame
the society’s unsatisfactory level of political consciousness,
4% its low educational level, 2% the lack of propagation
of relevant values, and 2% the counter-propagation of those
values. 54%, 6%, and 2% find inappropriate the attitude
of the authorities, opposition, and political forces supporting
the authorities, respectively, toward those values.
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| Different strata
of society are guided by group interests
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6% |
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The dissonance
and disunity of society
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0% |
| The
unsatisfactory level of political consciousness
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20%
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| The
low educational level of society
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4%
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| The
lack of propagation of those values
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2% |
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Counter-propagation of those values |
2% |
| The
inappropriate attitude of the authorities toward
those values
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54% |
| The
inappropriate attitude of the opposition toward
those values |
6% |
| The
inappropriate attitude of the political forces
supporting
the authorities toward those values |
2% |
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Those values are foreign to society |
0% |
- Absence of political will
- Those values are false and
useless
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Taking into account today’s imperatives, 26% underscore
the importance of a sovereign state, 14% human rights and
freedoms, 14% spirituality, 14% constitutional order, 10%
democracy, 10% patriotism, 6% separation of powers, and
4% equal rights.
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Human rights and
freedoms
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14%
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| Constitutional
order· |
10% |
- Freedom and fairness of
elections
- National independence
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According to the experts, the average Armenian’s
conduct of late has changed markedly toward types of negative
demeanor. Only 6% assess lawfulness to be a positive feature
of the average Armenian’s conduct, 94% as negative.
Lawlessness in the average Armenian’s behavior is
marked as negative by 100% of experts, fairness as positive
by 38% and negative by 62%, unfairness as positive by 26%
and negative by 74%, honesty and dishonesty are considered
positive by 30% and 84% and negative by 70% and 16%, kindness
and evil as positive by 46% and 70% and negative by 54%
and 30%, initiative and passiveness as positive by 46% and
62% and negative by 54% and 38%, devotion and treachery
as positive by 36% and 66% and negative by 64% and 34%,
civility and rudeness as positive by 20% and 76% and negative
by 80% and 24%. Diligence is marked as positive by 76% and
negative by 24%.
It is noteworthy that the experts surveyed are convinced
that young people are inclined toward democracy, the middle
generation toward authoritarianism, and the senior generation
toward totalitarianism. In the event of maintaining the
current value benchmarks and system, Armenia will proceed
to authoritarianism according to 66% of respondents, to
totalitarianism accordingly to 12%, to democracy according
to 16%.
- Difficult to
answer
- It proceeds
nowhere, but rather merely continues
its mission on Earth
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38% opine that Armenia will establish a system of values
characteristic of a democratic society in 25 years, 6% in
50 years, and 4% in 100 years, whereas 8% do not believe
that Armenia will ever have such a system of values. 40%
have a more optimistic attitude toward this issue. They
think it will take five to ten years.
The specialists maintain that from the perspective of civilizational
values Armenian society is closest to Eastern civilization
(10%), Russian civilization (10%), and European civilization
(12%), while 44% hold that Armenian civilization is a synthesis
of all.
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Western or European
civilization
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12% |
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Eastern-type civilization
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10% |
| We are
a completely different civilization |
10% |
- Middle Eastern civilization
- We are not a civilization
- Eurasian civilization
- Russian and Asian-Oriental
civilization
- We are inclined to the European,
but practice the Eastern
- We often have found ourselves
under the ideological influence of different
civilizations, and now are passing from one
to another, but we are like all other nations
with our national-spiritual values
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What is the role of the spiritual world in our life today?
74% of experts conclude that this role is a small one, 24%
think it plays no role, and only 2% say it leads a great
role.
14% of respondents point to the super-materialized character
of contemporary life as the main reason for the relatively
small role of the spiritual world, 20% to the low quality
of spiritual sustenance, 6% to the lack of propagation of
spiritual values, 6% to the passiveness of the intelligentsia,
and 20% and 6% to the absence of exemplary behavior by the
authorities and the political elite, respectively.
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Super-materialized
character of contemporary life
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14% |
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Variety of material challenges
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10% |
| Low quality of spiritual sustenance |
20% |
| Lack of propagation of spiritual values |
6% |
| Absence of exemplary behavior by the authorities |
20% |
| Absence of exemplary behavior by the political elite |
6% |
| Passiveness of the intelligentsia |
6% |
| Decline in society’s senses |
6% |
- Unspiritual essence of
the spiritual class, together with all derivative
consequences
- Absence of the human being
as a supreme value .
- Being far from the spiritual
world for 1000 years
- Cultural foundations are
cut off from the present,
and today’s culture is poor
- Materialization and politicization
of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the
parallel budding of sects
- Man has left God, and he
probably will have
to go a long way to reach Him again
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66% of the respondents are male, and 34% female; 26% are
21-30 years of age, 40% 31-40, 24% 41-50, 10% 51 or above.
All the experts surveyed have received higher education,
14% are full professors (PhD), 82% hold a Master’s
degree, and 4% have earned a Bachelor’s degree.
The second item on the day’s agenda was a presentation
by Yerevan State University professor Vardan Khachatrian,
who addressed “The Old and the New: Tradition and
Progress.” “The unique aspect of Armenian identity
is the cultural stratum that has come to us from ancient
times and promoted the Armenian people’s survival,”
he said, emphasizing the role of the church, which has recently
diminished. “The guiding precept of the spiritual
elite today is not the struggle for spiritual progress but
the ability to adapt to the present regime,” Khachatrian
concluded, noting that the latter is unable to foster society’s
spiritual development since it pursues a policy of devastating
symbols of national pride instead of paying tribute to them.
The formal presentations were followed by contributions
by Anahit Bayandur of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly;
former minister of state Hrach Hakobian; law professor Hrair
Tovmasian; Mushegh Yekmalian of the OSCE Yerevan Office;
Derenik Demirchian High School principal Anahit Bakhshian;
Alexander Butaev of the National Democratic Union; MP Shavarsh
Kocharian of the National Democratic Party; Yerevan State
University professor Aram Harutiunian; Vahagn Khachatrian
of the “Armat” center; Ruzanna Khachaturian
of the People’s Party of Armenia; Artsrun Pepanian,
political analyst for AR television; Gayane Markosian of
the Harmonious World NGO; National Press Club chairperson
Narine Mkrtchian; and several others.
ACNIS economic and diaspora affairs analyst Hovsep Khurshudian
made summary remarks. “We may deduce from many of
the answers that the reestablishment of values and traditions
highly depends on the political system, and particularly
morality of the ruling elite. Therefore only fundamental,
system changes will lead to positive results,” he
concluded.
Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first
Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K. Hovannisian, and supported
by the Lincy Foundation and a global network of contributors,
ACNIS serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public
policy challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet
world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative,
strategic thinking and a wider understanding of the new
global environment. In 2004, the Center focuses primarily on public
outreach, civic education, and applied research on critical domestic
and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.
For further information on the Center and its activities,
call (37410) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax (37410)
52-48-46; e-mail root@acnis.am or info@acnis.am
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