The Origins of the Protest Movement Against Ethnic Hierarchy
This chapter looks at the central role of entrepreneurs of mobilization. The study of different routes taken by entrepreneurs of the Azerbaijani cause has proven helpful when attempting to understand the genesis of the cause. These actors play a crucial role in the initiation and development of the movement, restructuring it throughout the revolutionary period and working toward the subversion of ethnic ranking. Indeed, resource mobilization highlights the decisive role played by intellectual figures from the educated middle classes. Based on their cultural and social capital, these entrepreneurs have specific resources that give them the ability to carry out a redefinition and enhancement of “turkishness” in its Azerbaijani specificity. The chapter then points out that Azeri elites with significant cultural capital tend to be integrated in the political system, whereas those with more “local” capital have been involved in setting up the Azeri rights movement.