Azeri Women in Transition: Women in Soviet and Post-Soviet Azerbaijan (Central Asia Research Forum Series,)

First book length treatment of Muslim Soviet WomenCross disciplinary - gender and women's studies, anthropology, Central Asia and CaucasusSuitable for both undergraduate and postgraduate levelOffers a new dimension for specialists on gender relations in Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union, where previous work has mostly had a Russian perspectiveFor Middle East specialists, provides insights into a region closed to researchers and its non-soviet neighbours for much of the 20th century This study of women and gender in a Muslim society draws on archival and literary sources as well as the life stories of women of different generations to offer a unique ethnographic and historical account of the lives of urban women in contemporary Azerbaijan. Focussing on a group of professional women in Baku, it provides insight into the impact of the Soviet system on the position of Azeri women, their conceptions of femininity and the significant changes brought about by the post-Soviet transition to a market economy and growing western influence. Also explored are the ways in which local cultural expectations and Islamic beliefs were accommodated to different modernisation projects. Social Science,Women's Studies The initial ideas behind this study emerged in 1989 following the resurgence of the nationalist movement in Soviet Azerbaijan. Farideh Heyat. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 202-213) And Index.