Borders and Brethren ― Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity

The Azerbaijani people have been divided between Iran and the former Soviet republicof Azerbaijan for more than 150 years, yet they have retained their ethnic identity. The collapse ofthe Soviet Union and the emergence of an independent Azerbaijan have only served to reinforce theircollective identity.In Borders and Brethren, Brenda Shaffer examines trends in Azerbaijanicollective identity from the period of the Islamic Revolution in Iran through the Soviet breakup andthe beginnings of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1979-2000). Challenging the mainstream view incontemporary Iranian studies, Shaffer argues that a distinctive Azerbaijani identity exists in Iranand that Azerbaijani ethnicity must be a part of studies of Iranian society and assessments ofregime stability in Iran. She analyzes how Azerbaijanis have maintained their identity and how thatidentity has assumed different forms in the former Soviet Union and Iran. In addition tocontributing to the study of ethnic identity, the book reveals the dilemmas of ethnic politics inIran.

Brenda Shaffer is Research Director of the Caspian Studies Program at Harvard University. She is the author of Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity (MIT Press, 2002).