Hastings' research explores the history of community formation around the oil industry of Baku, Azerbaijan, one of the oldest industrial centers of the former Russian Empire and Soviet Union. She explores both ruptures and continuities through the administrative regimes of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the independent Republic of Azerbaijan. The development of Baku’s oil industry is central to Azerbaijani history and also illustrates how Russian and Soviet industrial progress prompted the metamorphosis of far-flung local communities.