Forging ahead: Azerbaijan's new generation and social change

Lepisto, Eric

doi:10.1080/02634937.2010.540433

Cited by 4 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…These questions are particularly concerning to youth in Afghanistan. This paper focuses on a subset of youth, “aspiring youth” (Lepisto ), who are young adults in their late teens and twenties who are pursuing a better future through higher education. In Afghanistan, these youth are self‐conscious of their place in society as both inheritors of current conditions and as positioned to contribute to future conditions.…”

Section: Introduction and Theoretical Framingmentioning

confidence: 99%

TheOnlySolution: Education, Youth, and Social Change in Afghanistan

Holland¹,

Yousofi

2014

Anthropology & Education Quarterly

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This article draws on practice theory to examine aspiring youths' pursuit of higher education in Afghanistan. It finds that plans and actions are mediated through youths' families, communities, and solidarity networks. As a result, the personal improvement and enhanced reputational status that aspiring youth seek is structurally connected to processes of social reproduction and social change. The paper is based on over 100 in-depth interviews conducted with youth in Afghanistan by an undergraduate research team. [Afghanistan, family, higher education, youth, social change] Introduction and Theoretical FramingSeveral years ago, when I initially came to Kabul to teach, I was chatting with Asmaa, a female undergraduate and student of mine, who recalled how her uncles had refused to speak to her or their brother, her father, in protest over her having traveled to the United States to represent our university, the American University of Afghanistan. 1 With time, Asmaa further explained to me, two of these three uncles had changed their attitudes such that they were now sending their own daughters, her cousins, to high school. That such an important opportunity for a self-made and overtly modern young Afghan woman would provoke such a harsh reaction from her close relatives surprised me. But even more intriguing was the fact that these uncles had eventually shifted their views. The story seemed to hold the kernel of something important about social change in contemporary Afghanistan and inspired the research reported here.There has been a long tradition in anthropology of seeking to understand how culture change happens as well as the related issue of how culture reproduces itself-how continuities of social values, norms, and behaviors are transferred across time and through generations. These questions are tied to the more general social theoretical problem of the relationship between structure and agency (Giddens 1984). Practice theory developed as a way to view individual and collective practices (human action/agency) as simultaneously shaping and being shaped by a system (culture/structure) that is itself continually being reproduced through these practices and is subject to change as a result (Ortner 1984). The emphasis in practice theory on explaining the reproduction and change of form and meaning of culture is the reason why the approach is used here. In Afghanistan, questions about continuity and change are not just theoretical but are consequential to people's lives, as many in the country are self-consciously reflecting on the imminent transition (of security control from the international community to the Afghan government) as well as the virtue and staying power of changes introduced over the last dozen years (after the Taliban were removed from rule). These questions are particularly concerning to youth in Afghanistan. This paper focuses on a subset of youth, "aspiring youth" (Lepisto 2010), who are young adults in their late teens and twenties who are pursuing a better future through higher education. In...

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Section: Introduction and Theoretical Framingmentioning

confidence: 99%

TheOnlySolution: Education, Youth, and Social Change in Afghanistan

Holland¹,

Yousofi

2014

Anthropology & Education Quarterly

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“…The unique Azerbaijani family structure is considered somewhat conservative among traditional minds but modern among unconventional minds. Lepisto (2010) found that the younger generation in Azerbaijan has different knowledge and aspirations than the previous generation, which matured in the Soviet period. Youth today strive for personal independence through the pull of social media, experiences from foreign conferences or education abroad.…”

Section: Family and Education Values In Azerbaijani Societymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Youth today strive for personal independence through the pull of social media, experiences from foreign conferences or education abroad. As the local system fails to satisfy the economic and democratic expectations of youth in Azerbaijan, young people seek their independence in various ways (Lepisto, 2010). However, this is not only the case for Azerbaijani youth; Lim et al (2021) and Bhawuk (2021) mention that due to rapid economic development and the internationalization of universities, youth in Korean and Chinese societies have recently tended to accept Western individualistic values.…”

Section: Family and Education Values In Azerbaijani Societymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the introduction of master's programs to Azerbaijani higher education institutions and the Azerbaijani government's development of foreign educational partnerships, an increasing number of Azerbaijani students have been pursuing master's degrees both within and outside of Azerbaijan (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2018). However, in some respects, there is an observed contradiction between the values of youth and those of previous generations in Azerbaijan, such as in terms of approaches to educational activities (Lepisto, 2010). Conditions deriving from such generational differences of opinion make the country interesting to study; furthermore, the authors hope that the presented research findings will help researchers expand the range of studies on the Azerbaijani context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Students' self-determination in Azerbaijan

Asgarova

Tsang

2022

IJCED

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PurposeIt has been suggested that social impacts on young people are stronger in collectivistic societies than in individualistic societies due to stronger social norms. Therefore, the satisfaction of psychological needs might be more challenging for students in collectivistic societies. As Azerbaijani society is collectivistic, the purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which the need for the self-determination of Azerbaijani master's students is met in relation to their social circles.Design/methodology/approachForty-four Azerbaijani master's students were interviewed for this study, and their answers were analyzed from the perspective of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness within self-determination theory (SDT).FindingsThe findings of the current study suggest that Azerbaijani students' social environment is not supportive of furthering higher education through achieving a master's degree, and in some cases, this negatively affects students' well-being. Families in Azerbaijan mainly view higher education as being employment focused due to experiences of employment insecurity in the country.Research limitations/implicationsThe participants of the current study were from middle- and low-income families in Azerbaijan, as the interviewer obtained basic information on the educational and occupational situations of participants' families in addition to the interviewees' own states. Perhaps due to financial needs, it was mainly found that families valued making money over long-term self-development aspirations in their children. Reaching larger numbers of participants, future studies may purposefully sample individuals from higher-income families to reveal whether families with fewer financial concerns were more autonomy-supportive in the aspirations by young people to further their education or how the pattern of their support varied due to socioeconomic status.Practical implicationsIt is hoped that the presented results may guide the relevant authorities in the regulation of the employment strategies of youth in Azerbaijan, as high levels of youth unemployment and massive shifts to self-employment and low-skilled occupations create few opportunities to realize self-development aspirations in Azerbaijan. More efficient policies should be implemented to improve recruitment to good-quality jobs and increase the value of skills and knowledge in employment.Social implicationsInterconnected cultural factors determine families' views of furthering education and affect how they satisfy the psychological needs of students in their education lives. It is anticipated that the present study will be useful for students mainly from developing countries in coping with their social environments in pursuing their self-development aspirations.Originality/valueUnlike previous studies, the authors suggest that through “gained autonomy”, Azerbaijani youth who comply with their elders when less experienced tend to gain control over their personal decisions by providing positive information about overseas experiences. The concept of “gained autonomy” also contributes to SDT in illustrating how members of collectivistic societies can attempt to satisfy their basic psychological needs.

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“…Getting together socially is a non-routine and strategic strong aspect of maintaining (Koroteyeva & Makarova, 1998;Lepisto, 2010) and deepening close friend relationships (Ledeneva, 1998). Within the home, hosting others and showing hospitality allow for the strategic demonstration of the importance of the relationship (Simpson-Hebert, 1987;Werner, 1998a), creating a demarcation between distant and close friends.…”

Section: Social Gathering and Hospitalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Affordances of Social Networking Sites for Relational Maintenance in a Distrustful Society: The Case of Azerbaijan

Pearce

Barta

Fesenmaier

2015

Social Media + Society

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The Internet and social media afford opportunities for relational maintenance, but most scholarship has focused on relational maintenance in high-trust environments. This study explores relational maintenance online and offline in a distrustful society. In distrustful societies, trust is situated within one's particularized kin network, and friendships have strategic significance and are characterized by norms of reciprocity. In distrustful societies, relational maintenance behaviors are different from trustful societies and take on greater significance. This preliminary study, based on informant interviews in Azerbaijan, examines both offline relational maintenance and the affordances of social networking sites (SNSs) for relational maintenance in such an environment. SNSs do provide for some relational maintenance behaviors through supplementing offline behaviors at a low cost and give some additional benefits like status display, yet SNSs do not replace traditional relational maintenance behaviors in Azerbaijan.

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Forging ahead: Azerbaijan's new generation and social change

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

TheOnlySolution: Education, Youth, and Social Change in Afghanistan

TheOnlySolution: Education, Youth, and Social Change in Afghanistan

Students' self-determination in Azerbaijan

The Affordances of Social Networking Sites for Relational Maintenance in a Distrustful Society: The Case of Azerbaijan

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