Karena Avedissian is a political scientist and consultant focusing on social movements, new media, and security in the former Soviet Union. She received her PhD from the University of Birmingham in 2015. She is currently a lecturer at the American University of Armenia.
Latest posts by Karena Avedissian
Is this the end of forced labor for Uzbekistan’s cotton industry?
"We had a quota of 50 kilograms a day. I would mix soil with the cotton in my sack just to make sure I wasn’t under."
How one journalist sparked Armenia’s #MeToo moment
An Armenian journalist has started collecting and publishing anonymous accounts of sexual assault, provoking an uncomfortable but deeply necessary public debate.
‘Asa Ayo'? No, Thanks. Armenian Opposition Gets Creative Ahead of Crunch Referendum
On December 6 Armenia's government will attempt to put the country's emboldened civil society back into its box. But is it too late?
Did a Journalist Save a Chechen Teenager from Marrying a 57-Year-Old Police Captain? No.
Last week, we reported that a journalist had succeeded in preventing a Chechen teenager from being married against her will. It now appears the marriage will go through, after all.
How a Russian Journalist Ruined a Chechen Wedding
How an independent Russian journalist averted the forced marriage of a 17-year-old Chechen girl to a high-ranking, 57-year-old police official.
After Grozny Gun Battle, Human Rights Defenders in Chechnya Under Attack
Joint Mobile Group is one of Chechnya's last remaining human rights organizations. If it's forced from the republic, the loss to the local population would be difficult to exaggerate.
Russia Step Ups Censorship of ISIS Social Media Content
The move to forbid ISIS’s media content joins a trend of growing Internet surveillance and censorship in Russia, but the feasibility of weakening ISIS by targeting social media is questionable.
North Caucasians’ Sad, Paradoxical Fight in Eastern Ukraine
In the North Caucasus, the long-deteriorating security situation and repressive local regimes have long burdened the population. Sadly, the region's structural violence is now spreading beyond, into Ukraine, too.
