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Globalization and changing gender norms in Azerbaijan

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 8; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14616740600793010

1468-4470

Farideh Heyat,

Turkey's Politics and Society

Abstract In the Republic of Azerbaijan, the opening up of borders and the transition to a free market economy have paved the way not only for economic transformations but also for cultural intrusion from the West and the South. This has coincided with the intensification of globalizing processes across the world over the past two decades. This article examines the impact of the ensuing changes on gender norms and the position of women in public and domestic spheres in Azerbaijan. Pointing to the paradoxical gender ideology under the Soviet system and the way that it has evolved in recent years, the article examines the impact of conflicting ideologies and exogenous influences, such as the advent of the commercialization of sex, on women's economic position and public presence. It finds that, although some of the old ambiguities in gender norms and relations are being eroded, new gender asymmetries are arising along with contradictions and new tensions in gender and family relations. The diversification of perceptions of femininity and gender norms is shown to have occurred in tandem with the intensification of regional disparities, in particular the metropolitan-periphery divide, which has resulted from globalizing processes. Keywords: AzerbaijanAzerigender relationsglobalizationideologypost-Soviet Notes 1. Prior to Stalin's rule and the sealing of the border with Iran, there had been a great deal of trade, migration and close contact between the two Azerbaijans (Swietochowski Citation1995). Later in the 1940s and 1950s, there were waves of Iranian communist refugees settling in Soviet Azerbaijan. 2. Baku was the centre of oil industry in the Russian Empire attracting European entrepreneurs as well as oil workers from Iran and all over the Caucasus. This contributed to the industrial development and immense wealth in the city, enhancing its cosmopolitan population and culture. In the Soviet era, the city continued to be prosperous and highly multi-ethnic. It was famed across the USSR as a centre for music and art. 3. See, for example, Featherstone et al. Citation(1995); Appadurai Citation(1996); Tomlinson Citation(1999); Inda and Rosaldo Citation(2002). 4. By the end of the Soviet era, 1989, women in Azerbaijan constituted 43 per cent of those in public employment and 46 per cent of the highly and semi-specialized professionals. However, in the post-Soviet era with the decline of the state sector, unemployment among women has been increasing, in particular among young women (in the 18–30 age group). For more details see Heyat (Citation2002a: 170). 5. There is a large differential in the salaries of public- and private-sector employees. For example, a school teacher or a doctor earns US$20–50 per month, while local employees of foreign companies and organizations, some in their early twenties, often earn US$500–1,000 per month. 6. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Azeri population in the city of Baku was a minority, with Russians and Armenians forming the politically dominant groups. Later the Azeri population increased, reaching a majority in 1970. Following conflict with Armenia (1990–1), the great majority of the Armenian population fled the country. In the few years after independence most of the Russian population, in particular the young, migrated to Russia. 7. The field research for this article was initially undertaken for my PhD thesis in 1994–5, and then intermittently in 1996 and 1997. It involved extensive life-history interviews with twenty-three women of different generations, participant observation and literature research. During subsequent study visits in April–May 2000 and March–April 2004, I conducted further observations and interviews with key informants and focus groups. 8. Despite the formal gender equality in employment there were significant differentials in men and women's rate of pay, and career choices were limited by cultural constraints. In education, however, there was far greater equality; girls from rural areas would come to Baku to receive higher education, though most families were reluctant to send their unaccompanied daughters to Russia (Heyat Citation2002a). 9. Over the past decade there has been large-scale migration of Azerbaijanis, mostly male labour migration, to FSU (Former Soviet Union) republics and, to a lesser extent, to Turkey and elsewhere. Informal accounts estimate over 2 million Azeris are currently living and working in the Russian Federation. 10. Although HIV prevalence remains very low (less than 0.3 per cent) in most of Central Asia and the Caucasus, the overall number of registered infections continues to rise. According to UN reports (UNAIDS Citation2004), one in four drug injectors in Baku has been found to be HIV-positive. Among street-based sex workers, the rate is 11 per cent, and those working out of cafes and saunas 6 per cent. 11. According to the Azerbaijan Women's Rights Defence Association (formerly affiliated with the Popular Front), in 1999 there were 6,000 Azeri prostitutes working in Turkey and 2,000 in Dubai.