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

This is a unique ethnographic and historical account of the lives of urban women in contemporary Azerbaijan, which draws on archival, literary and academic sources, as well as an extensive selection of life-stories from women of different generations. In the context of both developing capitalism and colonial relations in the pre-Soviet era, and under the Soviet system, changes for women are explored, revealing the ways in which local cultural expectations and Islamic beliefs were accommodated in various modernisation projects. Focusing on a group of professional women in Baku, the impact of the Soviet system on womens domestic, public and work relations, and their conceptions of femininity, are assessed. Furthermore, the significant changes for Azeri women in the post-Soviet transition to market economy, accompanied by growing Western influence, are reviewed. This book offers a rare view of the lives of Muslim women in a region of the Caucasus little explored by outsiders. Heyat also offersDr Farideh Heyat Nfa is the author of 'Azeri Women in Transition: Women in Soviet and Post-Soviet Azerbaijan (Central Asia Research Forum)', published 2002 under ISBN 9780700716623 and ISBN 0700716629.