Azerbaijan: A Quest for Identity Under Soviet Rule, 1920-1991
Dissertationsprojekt von Rafi Beykhanov
Betreuer: Prof. Dr. Andreas Renner
In this study, I will examine and analyze Soviet nationality policy and the construction of national identity in Azerbaijan. What kind of nationalism and national identity did the Soviet regime build in Azerbaijan? What was the role of local Azerbaijani intellectual and political forces in constructing nationalism and national identity during the Soviet regime and how was it different from Soviet nationality policy? How did the Sovietization of Azerbaijan in the early years of Soviet rule contribute to the construction of Azerbaijani nationalism and national identity? How did the Soviet regime under Stalin's dictatorship lay the foundations for nationalism and national identity in Azerbaijan? What kind of culture, history, and national identity was built during this period, and what were the political and ideological reasons behind them? What were the political reforms during Khrushchev's leadership and how did they influence Azerbaijani national self-expression? What kind of Azerbaijani nationalism and national identity developed in Azerbaijan during Brezhnev's leadership? How did Gorbachev's reforms, Perestroika and Glasnost, and the political events in the late 1980s in Azerbaijan change Azerbaijani nationalism and national identity? What kind of culture, history, and national identity was beginning to be built during this period and how was it different from Soviet nationalism?