This conference seeks to explore the multi-layered, transnational dimensions of Azerbaijan’s cultures and heritage by employing the concepts of gender and sexuality as a primary analytical lens. It places the focus on the contemporary period, i.e., from the 1980s till the present day. This period, roughly beginning with the Soviet-Afghan War and marked by the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Türkiye emerging from dictatorship (among other regional and global events), is pivotal in terms of global political, religious and cultural transformations, and in terms of recalibrations of transnational connections. The conference is part of the UK-German research project ‘Transitions: Examining Changing Regimes of Sexuality in Post-Soviet Muslim Republics’, funded by AHRC and DFG and co-led by Professors Vlad Strukov (Leeds) and Timothy Nunan (Regensburg) and comprising an international, interdisciplinary team of researchers.
By foregrounding gender and sexuality as key analytical lenses, the conference seeks to enrich theoretical frameworks of diversity, which are often limited to Western feminist and queer studies, to other epistemologies, intellectual traditions and modernising projects. It also underscores our commitment to transregional and transdisciplinary dialogue, uniting researchers, artists, and practitioners.
Please see the Conference Programme for full details.
