• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

THE WEST, HEGEMONY AND EURASIA 3 GENDER AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN POST-SOVIET AZERBAIJAN: A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE Nayereh TOHIDI (California State University, Northridge, USA) In post-Soviet Azerbaijan, as in other successor states to the Soviet Union, people are going through a semi post-colonial process of constructing a new and independent national identity. In their nation-building attempt, the Azeri elite, predominantly nationalist and male, seeks to reassess, re-imagine, and redefine ethno-cultural and national identity of Azerbaijan. One of the targets or objects of this redefinition is the role of women in society. This, however, has not been a totally one- way process prescribed merely by the male elite. Women have not remained simply as passive objects of nationalist transition, inter-ethnic conflict or inter-national contest. Despite all the odds and limits, many women in Azerbaijan strive for a subject status and demonstrate a considerable level of agency by taking part in various aspects of socio-economic restructuring and cultural redefinition.1 As a borderland, geo-politically and geo-culturally situated between the ―East‖ (Asia) and ―West,‖ (Europe), Azerbaijan has a multifaceted national and cultural identity. It is among the most secularized and relatively modernized Islamicate republics. The interplay between several domestic and regional factors has shaped the gender dynamics and social status of women in Azerbaijan, including, the Caucasian cultural and historic milieu; the Islamic tradition; the Russian political and cultural influence; and the Azerbaijani nationalism. The definition of womanhood, manhood and Azerbaijani national identity in Soviet Azerbaijan were construed, in part, in comparison and contrast to the perceived image of the Russian ―other‖. Women were expected to be the main identity markers, the primary repositories of ―authenticity‖ (asalat), tradition, ethnic codes and customs that would demarcate Azerbaijani cultural boundaries from those of Russian rulers. Following its independence since 1991 and its entrance into market economy and capitalism, Azerbaijani nationalism is supposedly playing a central role in democratization of society and in articulation of its new national identity and gender regime. Yet, as will be discussed later, it is only within a new regional and international context and through a contest with certain new ―others‖ (Turkey, Iran, ‗West‘, and Armenia) that Azerbaijani ―national idea‖ is being articulated. Similar to many other post-colonial nationalization and democratization, these processes have been based on a modernist male-normative implying a yet more unequal gender arrangement than the one in the former Soviet system. 4 Leonard Abdullah STONE Azerbaijan provides an interesting case for exploring a number of theoretical questions and practical concerns about the relation between women and nationalism in post-colonial context. Recent feminist studies have demonstrated the gendered nature of nation-building, nationalism, national identity-formation, and inter-ethnic and inter-national processes (e.g., Pateman, 1988; Yuval-Davis & Anthias, 1989; Kandiyoti, 1991; Peterson & Runyan, 1993; Sharoni, 1993; Moghadam, 1994; Einhorn, 1996; Rapp, 1997). For example, what can be made of the problematic relationship between nationalism and feminism? Must they always be in opposition? Some feminists have warned women all over the world to be suspicious of locally prevalent pictures of ‗national identity‘ and ‗national traditions‘ because ―such images or pictures are used to privilege the views and values of certain parts of the heterogeneous national population as ‗definitive‘ of national life and culture.‖ (Narayan, 1997). It has been argued that conservative state-nationalist projects can instrumentalize and objectify women or may homogenize and deprive them of their subject status as citizens. Women often play an active, yet secondary and marginal role in nationalist struggles against colonial or semi-colonial domination.2 In the often-cited case of Algeria, women activists were even pushed back to their domestic role following the victory of nationalists over the colonial forces. Feminist critique of nationalism and its male-centered citizenship precedes modern projects of national independence movements and post-colonial experience. Feminism has been, among other things, a critique of modernity and capitalism in general since both projects were based on a masculine conception of the ‗social contract‘ and ‗civil freedom‘ that presupposed a male-centered ―sexual contract‖ and ―patriarchal right‖ (Pateman, 1988). Extension of the universal suffrage, civil rights, and human rights to the female half of the society even in the Western countries began to materialize only thanks to the women‘s movements and feminist redefinition of democracy and citizenship in the 20th century. In the process of post-colonial modern nation-building, women benefited by gaining new rights and improving their educational and employment opportunities precisely because the nationalist elite has seen such an improvement as a necessary prerequisite for national independence, de- colonization and modernization processes. Furthermore, a growing number of women in post- colonial contexts have negotiated and renegotiated with the nationalist elite for new spaces and diverse identities. By acting within but gradually moving beyond the narrow confines of the role and identity ascribed to women as custodians of national traditions or embodiment of ethnic or national codes of conduct, some women have succeeded in practically subverting the masculine and homogenizing prescriptions of anti-colonial nationalism. The degree of women‘s success in moving beyond the boundaries dictated by conservative nationalists, however, has depended on the state THE WEST, HEGEMONY AND EURASIA 5 gender policies, strength of civil society, especially those of women NGOs (non-governmental organizations), institutionalization of democracy, and legal establishment of human rights at a general level. This paper will examine how such theoretical patterns and practical issues concerning the gender dimension of nationalism apply to Azerbaijan in its post-Soviet quest for a new national identity. What are the predominant views and images of women and gender relations promoted by the Azerbaijani nationalist elite? What kinds of redefinition of women‘s roles in society are underway and how do the female and male elites configure these re/definitions with the construction of new national identity? How do women fare in the process of socio-economic transformation and how do they respond to new opportunities, challenges and adverse impacts of post-Soviet developments? Why a Regional Perspective? Azerbaijan, located in the eastern part of the Caucasus, occupies a territory of 33.4 square miles about the size of Portugal. Given the historical background, geopolitical and geocultural situation of Azerbaijan, any nationalist discourse and identity construction in this country would inevitably be a regional process involving the interplay of identity politics in Turkey, Iran, and Russia. Factors that contribute to Azerbaijan‘s unique geopolitics include the following. First, Azeris who make up over 83 percent of the population of the Azerbaijan Republic, are Turkic speaking and predominantly Shi‘a Muslims who see themselves as a people who became divided between Russia and Persia in early 19th century. Over 20 millions of ethnic Azeris live in Iran and 7.3 millions inhabit the Republic of Azerbaijan proper who have undergone nearly two centuries of Russian domination. Second, Azerbaijan forms a borderland between Europe and Asia, Islam and Christianity, Russia and Turkey, Iran and Turkey. The historical, ethnic, and political ties between Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey and Russia represent a complex legacy that shapes contemporary Azerbaijani society. Third, Azerbaijani politics is deeply enmeshed in present international and regional rivalries over the oil reserves of the Caucasus and Caspian littoral states. And finally, the Armenian-Azerbaijani territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, which again has a regional characteristic involving Russia and Turkey, casts a long shadow over Azerbaijan‘s society. With some twenty percent of its territory under occupation, one of every seven Azerbaijanis has become a refugee or been internally displaced, of which 55 percent are women and children.3 It is in such an inter-ethnic, war-stricken, and nationally and inter-nationally contested milieu that women and men 6 Leonard Abdullah STONE in Azerbaijan are going through a semi-decolonization process. All of these factors have turned Azerbaijan into a stage upon which regional politics, including gender politics, are played out. Given Azerbaijan‘s historical background and present situation, it is only natural that it has maintained a multi-faceted and syncretistic identity, reflecting both local or indigenous characteristics of the Caucasus and the regional influences of Iran, Turkey and Russia. Azerbaijan‘s identity in modern times has been shaped and reshaped through several turning points or socio- political crises. The first major turning point as perceived by the Azerbaijanis themselves, was the Russian-Persian wars in the nineteenth century, which resulted in the treaties of Gulustan in 1813 and Turkmancay in 1828 that divided Azeris across the north and south of Aras River between Iran and Russia. After that point the ―North Azerbaijanis‖ (under

Load more

  102

Copy Link