Part 2: The Everyday Life and Cultural Transitions in the Post-Independence Period
Summary
Aghasi Z. Tadevosyan
In the Post-Soviet period everyday life in Yerevan changed entirely. The end of the total control of the people’s working and free time by the Soviet regime gave them a chance to manage their personal time. Emancipation of personal time provided people with an opportunity to create new forms and spheres of daily activity. Small business and trade – a largely novel form of communication for a post-soviet city – appeared, suggesting a rather new picture of the city. For some period petty dealers’ vision of a street – as a space for trade – became a principal characteristic feature of the city’s everyday life, influencing the processes of time and space organization. The traders’ voices became decisive. This stratum soon realized its vision and changed the cultural landscape of the city. The struggle for the right to the city was another process influencing the newly shaping development of everyday life of the city. The question: “Who does the right to realize his/her visions of the city belong to?” became crucial. In the clashes between interests of small traders, major business and crime, major business held the victory. These processes still continue. New social groups, which look at the city from ecological, aesthetical and other perspectives now struggle for their right to the city and to change the cultural forms of Yerevan according to their own vision.