Semester of Gradation
Fall 2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
International Conflict Management
Department
Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. Maia Hallward
Second Advisor
Dr. Charity Butcher
Third Advisor
Dr. Christopher Pallas
Abstract
This dissertation is intended to examine the claim of religious tolerance and its practical application in Azerbaijan. It is structured around two central questions. (1) What factors contribute to the presence of religious tolerance in Azerbaijan? and (2) What factors prevent religious tolerance in Azerbaijan?
The research is qualitative in nature and employs a thematic analysis of the data to identify patterns of state policy, national identity, and experiences of religious practice. Through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, as well as the utilization of existing data from the Caucasus Barometer and the World Value Survey, it explores the interrelationship between cultural traditions, secular statehood, national identity, and patterns of state regulation of religion in Azerbaijan.
Therefore, the dissertation suggests that the Azerbaijani government extends selective tolerance to religious communities that help legitimize its claims about multiculturalism and secularism, while imposing greater restrictions on politically sensitive or non-traditional religious communities. In Azerbaijan, religious tolerance is politically and symbolically promoted, yet in practice it is constrained and subjected to government monitoring, legal regulation, and social suspicion. Furthermore, the findings suggest that religious tolerance in Azerbaijan functions as a conditional privilege, influenced and shaped by the ideology of Azerbaijanism, the state's domestic and geopolitical goals, and the legacy of Soviet-era control. This study builds on the extant body of literature on religion and statecraft in the post-Soviet states, emphasizing tolerance as a national principle and a tool of governance.
Keywords: Azerbaijanism, Religious Tolerance, Multiculturalism, National Identity, Religion, Secularism