Azerbaijanis in Russia: An Imagined Diaspora?

Abstract

This chapter intends to use the term diaspora in its widest possible sense, so as to properly address the transnational dynamics that affect Azerbaijani immigrants in Russia from an economic affective, and cultural point of view. It stresses that whereas these immigrants do not share a “diasporic” selfconsciousness, at least in the traditional sense of the term, their home country is actually making efforts to build what can be described as an “imagined diaspora.” The findings in the chapter are based on field studies conducted in October 2006, September 2007, and from October 2008 to March 2009, as part of a doctoral thesis on South Caucasian immigrants in Russia. VAK is therefore the primary organization in terms of visibility. It is the main interlocutor of both the Russian and Azerbaijani governments, and it has a network of regional offices across the country, be they subsidiaries or local affiliate organizations. Keywords:Azerbaijani immigrants; imagined diaspora; Russia