Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-9nwgx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-23T22:47:30.125Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Civic Dominion: Nation-Building in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan over 25 Years of Independence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2022

Laurence Broers Open the ORCID record for Laurence Broers [Opens in a new window]  and
Ceyhun Mahmudlu
Laurence Broers*
Affiliation:
Russia and Eurasia Programme, Royal Institute for International Affairs at Chatham House, London, UK
Ceyhun Mahmudlu
Affiliation:
Department of Government, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
*
Corresponding author: Laurence Broers, email: laurencebroers@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article surveys nation-building in post-Soviet Azerbaijan over the country’s first quarter-century of restored independence. It examines the core dimensions of ethno-demographic and national minority issues, language policy, and the role of religion in the development of the state’s formal ideology Azerbaycançılıq (Azerbaijanism). The article highlights the nexus of nation-building and regime-building as a dominant trend over the last two decades, generating what we term “civic dominion”: the domination of a regime tradition, legitimated through the imagery and ideology of civic nationhood. Finally, the article considers the role of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict as a long-standing exception to the ostensibly civic ethos of post-Soviet Azerbaijani nation-building.

Keywords

Azerbaijannation-buildingpost-SovietKarabakh
Type
Special Issue Article
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 51 , Issue 1: Special Issue on Nation-Building in the Post-Soviet States , January 2023 , pp. 47 - 63
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for the Study of Nationalities

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agaev, Rasim, and Alizade, Zardusht. 2006. Azerbaydzhan. Konets Vtoroy Respubliki (1988-1993). Moscow: Granitsa.Google Scholar
Altstadt, Audrey, L. 2016. The Politics of Culture in Soviet Azerbaijan, 1920-40. London and New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altstadt, Audrey, L. 2017. Frustrated Democracy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan. Washington DC/New York: Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayoob, Mohammed, and Ismayilov, Murad, eds. 2015. Identity and Politics in Central Asia and the Caucasus. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azadlıq Radiosu . 2009. “Azərbaycanda rusdillilər artır, yoxsa azalır?” August 29, 2009. http://www.azadliq.org/content/article/1810273.html (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Azerbaijan 2020 . 2012. Azerbaijan 2020 – Look into the Future. Development Concept. http://www.president.az/files/future_en.pdf (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Azerbaijan Systematic Country Diagnostic . 2015. World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/09/24593835/azerbaijan-systematic-country-diagnostic (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Babak, Vladimir, Vaisman, Demian, and Wasserman, Aryeh, eds. 2004. Political Organization in Central Asia and Azerbaijan: Sources and Documents. Portland, OR: Frank Cass.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balaev, Aydyn. 2005. Etnoyazykovye protsessy v Azerbaydzhane v XIX-XX vv. Baku: Nurlar.Google Scholar
Balaev, Aydyn. 2012. Azerbaydzhanskaya Natsiya: osnovnye etapy stanovleniya na rubezhe XIX-XX vv. Moscow: Tirazhi.Ru.Google Scholar
Balaev, Aydyn. 2014. Mamed Emin Rasulzade. 1884-1955. Politicheskiy Portret. Baku: KitabKlubu.Google Scholar
Balci, Bayram. 2004. “Between Sunnism and Shiism: Islam in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan.” Central Asian Survey 23 (2): 205–217.Google Scholar
Balci, Bayram. 2013. “Between Secular Education and Islamic Philosophy: The Approach and Achievements of Fethullah Gülen’s Followers in Azerbaijan.” Caucasus Survey 1 (1): 107–116.Google Scholar
Bedford, Sofie. 2009. Islamic Activism in Azerbaijan. Repression and Mobilization in a Post-Soviet Context. Stockholm: Stockholm Studies in Politics.Google Scholar
Bedford, Sofie. 2016. “Turkey and Azerbaijan: One Religion – Two States?” In Turkish-Azerbaijani Relations. One Nation – Two States?, edited by Ismayilov, Murad and Graham, Norman A., 127–149. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bedford, Sofie, Mahmudlu, Ceyhun, and Abilov, Shamkhal. 2021. “Protecting Nation, State and Government: ‘Traditional Islam’ in Azerbaijan.” Europe-Asia Studies 73 (4): 1–22: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2021.1899136CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brubaker, Rogers. 1996. Nationalism Reframed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Council of Europe (Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities). 2004. Opinion on Azerbaijan. January 26. https://rm.coe.int/168008bd33 (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Council of Europe (Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities). 2008. Opinion on Azerbaijan. December 10. https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168008c157 (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Council of Europe (Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities). 2013. Opinion on Azerbaijan. September 3. https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168008c664 (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Cornell, Svante E., Karaveli, Halil, and Ajeganov, Boris. 2016. Azerbaijan’s Formula: Secular Governance and Civic Nationhood. Washington: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program.Google Scholar
Crabtree, Steve, and Pelham, Brett. 2012. “What Alabamians and Iranians Have in Common.” Gallup. www.gallup.com/poll/114211/alabamians-iranians-common.aspx (accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Dədəyev, Bilal, Mahmudlu, Ceyhun, and Abilov, Şamxal. 2014. Qarabağ 99 sualda. Baku: CBS.Google Scholar
Ergun, Ayça. 2021. “Citizenship, National Identity, and Nation-Building in Azerbaijan: Between the Legacy of the Past and the Spirit of Independence.” Nationalities Papers, 1–18. DOI:10.1017/nps.2020.81Google Scholar
Fierman, W. 2009. “Language Vitality and Paths to Revival: Contrasting Cases of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 198: 75–104.Google Scholar
Gerber, Lea. 2007. Minorities in Azerbaijan: The Sociolinguistic Situation of Lezgis, Udis, Georgians (Ingiloys) and Talyshs in Azerbaijan – with a Particular Focus on Education. Geneva: CIMERA.Google Scholar
Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism-2012, Win-Gallup International, Press Release . 2012. Gallup. https://sidmennt.is/wp-content/uploads/Gallup-International-um-tr%C3%BA-og-tr%C3%BAleysi-2012.pdf (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Goff, Krista. 2020. Nested Nationalism. Making and Unmaking Nations in the Soviet Caucasus. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Grant, Bruce. 2010. “Cosmopolitan Baku.” Ethnos 75 (2): 123–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, Bruce. 2014. “The Edifice Complex. Architecture and the Political Life of Surplus in the New Baku.” Public Culture 26 (3): 501–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guliyev, Farid, 2012. “Political Elites in Azerbaijan.” In Challenges of the Caspian Resource Boom. Domestic Elites and Policy-Making, edited by Heinrich, Andreas and Pleines, Heiko,117–130. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Guliyev, Farid, 2013. “Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: Transition to Sultanistic Semiauthoritarianism? An Attempt at Conceptualization.” Demokratizatsiya. The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization 13 (3): 393–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guliyev, Farid. 2015a. “After Us, the Deluge: Oil Windfalls, State Elites and the Elusive Quest for Economic Diversification in Azerbaijan.” Caucasus Analytical Digest 69: 2–5.Google Scholar
Guliyev, Farid. 2015b. “The 2015 Parliamentary Elections in Azerbaijan. The Neglected Category of Independents.” Caucasus Analytical Digest 79: 2–4.Google Scholar
Hatcher, Lynley. 2008. “Script Change in Azerbaijan: Acts of Identity.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 192: 105–116.Google Scholar
“Inside the Department of AliyevScience.” 2013. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. February 16, http://www.rferl.org/content/heydar-aliyev-azerbaijan-aliyevscience/24910965.html (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Isaacs, Rico, and Polese, Abel, eds. 2016. Nation-building and Identity in the Post-Soviet Space. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ismayilov, Murad. 2012. “State, Identity, and the Politics of Music: Eurovision and Nation-Building in Azerbaijan.” Nationalities Papers 40 (6): 833–851.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ismayilov, Murad. 2015. “Post-colonial Hybridity, Contingency, and the Mutual Embeddedness of Identity and Politics in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: Some Initial Thoughts.” Caucasus Analytical Digest 77: 7–13.Google Scholar
Ismayilov, Murad. 2016. “Together but Apart for Twenty Years: Azerbaijan and Turkey in Pursuit of Identity and Survival.” In Turkish-Azerbaijani Relations. One nation – two states?, edited by Ismayilov, Murad and Graham, Norman A., 1–20. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ismayilov, Murad, and Tkacik, Michael. 2009. “Nation-building and State-building in Azerbaijan. The Challenges of Education Abroad.” Turkish Policy Quarterly 8 (4): 90–104.Google Scholar
Kendall-Taylor, Andrea, 2012. “Purchasing Power: Oil, Elections and Regime Durability in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan”. Europe-Asia Studies 64 (4): 737–760.Google Scholar
Kotecha, Hema. 2006. Islamic and Ethnic Identities in Azerbaijan: Emerging Trends and Tensions. Baku: Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Baku.Google Scholar
LeVine, Steve. 2007. The Oil and the Glory. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Lonardo, David. 2016. “The Islamic State and the Connections to Historical Networks of Jihadism in Azerbaijan.” Caucasus Survey, 4 (3): 239–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mamedov, Eldar. 2012. “Azerbaijan: Baku Keeps Lid on Ethnic Minorities.” Eurasianet, September 5, 2012; http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65866 (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Mammadli, Aliagha. 2015. “About Some Factors Of Stability Of Ethnic Identity Of Azerbaijanis During Soviet Period.” Paper presented at the conference, “Identities on the move: The Caucasus between the Local, the Regional and the Global,” Baku, May 2015.Google Scholar
Marquardt, Kyle L. 2011. “Framing Language Policy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: Political Symbolism and Interethnic Harmony.” Central Asian Survey 30 (2): 181–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehdiyev, Ramiz. 2007. “Azerbaijan as an Example of National Ideology.” Azərbaycan, November 9, 2007. http://www.azerbaycanli.org/az/page55.html (Accessed September 2, 2016.)Google Scholar
Mehdiyev, Ramiz. 2014. “The World Order of Double Standards and Contemporary Azerbaijan.” Extended press article, Day.az, December 3, 2014. http://news.day.az/politics/539699.html (accessed April 17 2021.)Google Scholar
Mehdiyev, Ramiz. 2015a. “West, We Are Not Puppets.” Contact.az, October 29. www.contact.az/docs/2015/Politics/102900134619en.htm#.VsMSVikzBek (Accessed July 30, 2016.)Google Scholar
Mehdiyev, Ramiz. 2015b. “Mehdiyev Invites the West to A Dialogue on the Conditions of the Regime.” Contact.az, October 30. http://contact.az/docs/2015/Analytics/103000134771en.htm#.VsMSyikzBek (Accessed July 30, 2016.)Google Scholar
Meissner, Hannes, 2012. “The Role of the Oil Elite Policy-Making in Azerbaijan.” In Challenges of the Caspian Resource Boom. Domestic Elites and Policy-Making, edited by Heinrich, Andreas and Pleines, Heiko, 131–142. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Militz, Elisabeth. 2016. “Public Events and Nation-building in Azerbaijan.” In Nation-building and Identity in the Post-Soviet Space, edited by Isaacs, Rico and Polese, Abel, 174–192. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mylonas, Harris. 2013. The Politics of Nation-Building. Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Popjanevski, Johanna. 2006. Minorities and the State in the South Caucasus: Assessing the Protection of National Minorities in Georgia and Azerbaijan. Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Silk Road Studies Program. http://www.silkroadstudies.org/resources/pdf/SilkRoadPapers/2006_09_SRP_Popjanevski_Minorities-South-Caucasus.pdf (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Rosstat. 2012-2013. Itogi Vserossiyskoy Perepisi Naseleniya 2010 goda, Vol. 4 (Naselenie po natsional’nosti i vladeniyu russkogo yazyka). Official publication of the Russian State Committee for Statistics. http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/perepis_itogi1612.htm (Accessed April 17, 2017.)Google Scholar
Safarova, Durna. 2016. “Azerbaijan: University, Paper Closed as Anti-Gülen Clean-up Continues.” Eurasianet, July 20, 2016. http://www.eurasianet.org/node/79781 (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Sattarov, Rufat. 2009. Islam, State, and Society in Independent Azerbaijan. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.Google Scholar
Shaffer, Brenda. 2002. Borders and Brethren. Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Shaffer, Brenda. 2004. Introduction. In Political Organization in Central Asia and Azerbaijan. Sources and Documents, edited by Babak, Vladimir, Vaisman, Demian and Wasserman, Aryeh, 21–31. Portland, OR: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Siroky, David, and Mahmudlu, Ceyhun. 2016. “E Pluribus Unum? Ethnicity, Islam, and the Construction of Identity in Azerbaijan.” Problems of Post-Communism 63 (2): 94–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Anthony, D. 1991. National Identity. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press.Google Scholar
Sputnik. 2016. “Rus dili Azərbaycanın ikinci dilidir,” March 3, 2016; http://sputnik.az/life/20160303/404009856.html (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Swietochowski, Tadeusz, 1995. Russia and Azerbaijan. A Borderland in Transition. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Tahirzade, Adalət. 1997. Meydan: 4 il 4 ay. Baku: Ay-Ulduz.Google Scholar
Tokluoglu, Ceylan. 2011. “The Political Discourse of the Azerbaijani Elite on the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict 1991–2009.” Europe-Asia Studies 63 (7): 1223–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trend . 2016. “Unity Prayer in Baku’s Heydar Mosque.” January 15, 2016. http://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/society/2481163.html (Accessed September 3, 2016.)Google Scholar
Vestnik Kavkaza . 2016. “Prayer for Unity Held in Baku’s Heydar Mosque.” January 16, 2016; http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/Unity-Prayer-held-in-Baku%E2%80%99s-Heydar-Mosque.html (Accessed April 17, 2021.)Google Scholar
Wasserman, Aryeh. 1995. “A Year of Rule by the Popular Front of Azerbaijan.” In Muslim Eurasia. Conflicting Legacies, edited by Ro’i, Yaacov, 143–161. Ilford: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Welt, Cory. 2014. In the Shadow of Revolution: A Decade of Authoritarian Hardening in Azerbaijan. Working paper. George Washington University.Google Scholar
Wiktor-Mach, Dobroslawa. 2012. “Measuring Muslims: The problems of religiosity and intra-religious diversity.” Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion 3 (New Methods on the Sociology of Religion): 207–227. Leiden and Boston: Brill.Google Scholar
Yunusov, Arif. 2004. Islam v Azerbaydzhane. Baku: Zaman.Google Scholar
Yunusov, Arif. 2013. The Islamic Factor in Azerbaijan. Baku: Adiloglu.Google Scholar