| 1. |
- Bedford, Sofie, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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'Failed Opposition' Reconsidered: Dynamism and Changing Paradigms in Azerbaijan
- 2016. - 1
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Ingår i: The Uppsala Yearbook of Eurasian Studies. - London : Wildy, Simmonds & Hill Publishing. ; , s. 104-122
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this article we argue that repression and political manipulation do not eliminate opposition in authoritarian contexts but give it a dynamic and transformational character. However marginalized opposition parties are still, in some cases after twenty years or more, publicly requesting change, freedoms and liberties. Moreover, this pro-democracy work is continued by the next generation of activists. We will be using the case of Azerbaijan to highlight that even though the uncompromising attitude of the authoritarian institutions seem static, and unable to shake, the opposition against them is very dynamic. Despite being severely repressed ‘opposition’ is gradually becoming more diverse and sustainable, even though this is not at all visible on the political arena. The purpose of the article is to shed light on these new opposition dynamics in the context of the Azerbaijani 2013 presidential election.
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| 2. |
- Bedford, Sofie, 1975-
(författare)
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Introduction: Deconstructing the ‘Crossroads’
- 2017
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Ingår i: 'Azerbaijani' and Beyond: Perspectives on the Construction of National Identity. - Berlin : Verlag Dr. Köster. - 9783895749162 ; , s. 15-38
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In order to set the stage for the chapters that follow in the book this introduction is an attempt, of sorts, to deconstruct the famous ‘crossroads’ concept. This is done by a brief outline of certain themes re-occurring throughout the chapters of this book, and as such appear to be the building blocks of Azerbaijan’s ‘crossroad national identity.’ I discuss their dynamic character trying to show how they contribute to the complicated identity situation. It should be noted that even if these crossroad aspects, for the sake of simplicity, are presented under different headings the reality is, of course that they are more or less naturally intertwined, interlinked, and inter-dependent, all contributing to the complexity of identity formation.
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| 3. |
- Bedford, Sofie, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Islam im postsowjetischen Kaukasus Von Sunniten, Schiiten, Sufis und Salafisten
- 2015
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Ingår i: Osteuropa. - 0030-6428. ; 65:7-10, s. 71-92
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Der Islam ist im Kaukasus in unterschiedlichen Formen verbreitet. Der Nordostkaukasus ist von sunnitischen Sufi-Bruderschaften geprägt. Dort betrachten Eliten und Laien die Religion als Quelle politischer Legitimität. Im Nordwestkaukasus ist der sunnitische Islam der hanafitischen Rechtsschule verbreitet. In Aserbaidschan dominiert die von der iranischen Safawiden-Dynastie verbreitete Zwölfer-Schia, und der Islam ist – wie auch im Nordwestkaukasus – weitgehend auf den Bereich der Spiritualität beschränkt. Doch auch dort stellen Salafisten die Autorität des offiziellen Islam in Frage.
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| 4. |
- Bedford, Sofie, 1975-
(författare)
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Islamic opposition in Azerbaijan : Discursive conflicts and beyond
- 2015
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Ingår i: Religion, Politics and Nation-Building in Post-Communist Countries. - Farnham : Ashgate. - 9781472449696 ; , s. 117-142
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In 2004 the Azerbaijani authorities decided to evict the Juma mosque community from the mosque in Baku’s old town where they had been conducting prayers since 1992; under the auspices they lacked the proper registration and the facilities were state property. As the community resisted eviction, police entered the mosque during prayertime, physically removed the worshippers and closed it down. Preceding this, the popular imam of the Juma Mosque had been arrested during a political demonstration and sentenced to a five year suspended sentence for violating Azerbaijani law by engaging politically despite being a religious leader. These episodes rendered a lot of attention at the time as they highlighted a conflict between a religious group and the state in Azerbaijan, a country generallydescribed as one of the more secular in the former Soviet Union. Almost 10 years after the Juma incidents the relationship between the Azerbaijani authorities and certain parts of the Islamic community is still tense and doesfrom time to time manifest itself in open controversies. In order to shed lighton how some Muslim groups in Azerbaijan became perceived as oppositional, this chapter focuses on colliding discourses that become societal and intensified as the authorities with all means try to control discursive as well as social practices.
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| 5. |
- Bedford, Sofie, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Resisting the Irresistible : ‘Failed Opposition’ in Azerbaijan and Belarus Revisited
- 2019
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Ingår i: Government and Opposition. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 0017-257X .- 1477-7053. ; 54:4, s. 686-714
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent literature on post-Soviet electoral revolutions in places where attempts at regime change through popular protest did not succeed, opposition groups are often simply regarded as ‘failed’. And yet, opposition actors exist and participate in the political life of their country. Building on the Belarusian and Azerbaijani cases, we argue that opposition actors are maintained in a ‘ghetto’, often virtual, tightly managed by the ruling authorities who exert monopolistic control over civic activities. Opposition actors adapt to the restricted conditions – accepting a certain level of dependency. They thus develop various tactics to engage with the outside, striving to reduce the ghetto walls. To this end this article proposes a typology of what we call oppositional ‘resistance models’: electoral, in the media, lobbying and through education. The models highlight what makes ‘opposition’ in authoritarian states and are a step towards a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon in this context.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Bedford, Sofie, 1975-
(författare)
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"The Election Game:” Authoritarian Consolidation Processes in Belarus
- 2017
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Ingår i: Democratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization. - Washington DC, USA : Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, The George Washington University. ; 25:4, s. 381-405
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Elections without content are characteristic of electoral authoritarianism. This article illustrates how the “election game” featuring “elections for the sake of elections” can contribute to the consolidation of an authoritarian regime. It analyzes how Belarusian authorities’ “menu of manipulation” shaped both the discourse and “practice” of “politics” in favor of the current system. Using selective repression – targeting mainly those openly wanting to change the status quo, while allowing some controlled openness for individuals, as long as they refrain from “doing politics” – discouraged political activism and contributed to a negative perception of the “opposition” as a noisy sub-group of the population. Such developments reinforced a perception of organized politics in general, and elections in particular, as abstract, unattractive and irrelevant to most.
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| 8. |
- Bedford, Sofie, 1975-
(författare)
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To Participate or Not To Participate—That is the Question. Electoral Strategies of the Azerbaijani Opposition
- 2015
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Annan publikation (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Elections pose a dilemma for the democratic opposition in electoral authoritarian states. On the one hand, the election campaign is often their only opportunity to get sanctioned access to the public, on the other, through their participation in an election where the outcome is known beforehand they appear to support a democratic charade. This article focuses on the ways in which oppositional actors in Azerbaijan choose to tackle this predicament in relation to the recent parliamentary elections. The analysis and comparison of respective electoral strategies (boycott, campaigning, statements and monitoring) tell us about the roles elections, despite their predictable outcome, play in this type of context. Even though no one in the opposition is ‘in it to win it’ the Republican Alternative (REAL) movement stands out. Fully aware of their marginalization in society, as representatives of an extremely unpopular ‘opposition’, their electoral work focused on selling themselves to the public as ‘something new,’ which is, of course, easier said than done. Nevertheless, their approach and campaign could be interpreted as an attempt to actually convert this into practice.
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| 9. |
- Bedford, Sofie, 1975-
(författare)
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Turkey and Azerbaijan: One Religion-Two States?
- 2016
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Ingår i: Turkish-Azerbaijani Relations. One Nation-Two States?. - London and New York : Routledge. - 9781138650817 - 9781315625119 ; , s. 127-149
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter is set to provide a more thorough understanding of what made ‘Turkish Islam’ the preferred choice for the political leaders of independent Azerbaijan as well as highlight and attempt to explain the fact that this amicable reception of Turkish religious representatives seems gradually to be coming to an end. It is argued that even though the religious aspect has never been the most significant in Turkish-Azerbaijani relations, the dynamics within the religious terrain underlying the interaction between the two states can be viewed as a function of the ‘politicization’ of the issue. Put differently, because the embrace of Turkish Islam on the elite level came as a political decision, transformation of and change in the political parameters underlying bilateral relations—both intra-state parameters within Turkey and Azerbaijan respectively and, to some extent, the nature of political dynamics between the latter two states—prompted change in the official status of Turkish Islam in Azerbaijan.
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| 10. |
- Bedford, Sofie, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Under Construction and Highly Contested : Islam in the Post-Soviet Caucasus
- 2016
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Ingår i: Third World Quarterly. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0143-6597 .- 1360-2241. ; 37:9, s. 1559-1580
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While scholarship on Islam in the Caucasus has focused on the late Soviet religious revival – the rise of Salafi jihadism and religious radicalisation in the northern part of these strategic crossroads – no study to date has addressed the discursive struggle over the social functions of regional Islam. This article deconstructs these discourses in order to examine the very varying, and often conflicting, representations of Islam advocated by various actors across the region and within particular republics. The article highlights the contested functions of regional Islam against the background of a religious revival that is still a work in progress.
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