Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-gvh9x Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-21T01:21:20.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Civic Commitment, Political Culture and the Estonian Inter-War Generation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Li Bennich-Björkman
Li Bennich-Björkman*
Affiliation:
Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden. Email: li.bennich-bjorkman@statsvet.uu.se
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The purpose of this article is to investigate to what extent civic commitment and the political culture from the Estonian first republic survived communism at an individual level. Have representatives of the Estonian inter-war generation who endured Soviet occupation been able to remain civically committed even though they were disconnected from democratic institutions for a major part of their lives? Sometimes labelled “republican,” this generation matured into early adulthood during an unusually formative period in Estonian history, when the new democratic state was taking shape in between the two world wars. Hence, it fulfils the criteria of a political generation as “a group of human beings who have undergone the same basic historical experiences during their formative years.” The analysis contributes to two different, although in this context interrelated, discussions. The first addresses the roots of Estonia's successful post-communist experiences, the second the extent to which early socialization endures dramatic institutional shifts.

Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , March 2007 , pp. 1 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aarelaid-Tart, Aili. “Political Generations in Estonia: A Historical Background to the Formation of the Contemporary Political Scene.” In The Second Generation of Democratic Elites in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Frenzel-Zagórska, Janina and Wasilewski, Jacek. Warsaw: Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2000.Google Scholar
Almond, Gabriel, and Verba, Sidney. The Civic Culture. Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963.Google Scholar
Åslund, Anders. Building Capitalism. The Transformation of the Former Soviet Bloc. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.Google Scholar
Assman, Jan. “Collective Memory and Cultural Identity.” New German Critique, no. 65 (1995): 125–33.Google Scholar
Barghoorn, Fredrick C. and Remington, Thomas F. Politics in the USSR. 3rd ed. Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown, 1986.Google Scholar
Barry, Brian. Sociologists, Economists and Democracy. London: Macmillan, 1970.Google Scholar
Bellah, Robert N. et al. Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.Google Scholar
Bennich-Björkman, Li. “A Political Culture in Exile. The Estonian Interwar Generation in Canada and Sweden.” Journal of Baltic Studies XXXVII, no. 1 (2006): 68–94.Google Scholar
Berglund, Sten, Aarebrot, Frank H., Vogt, Henri, and Karasimeonov, Georgi. Challenges to Democracy: Eastern Europe Ten Years after the Collapse of Communism. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2001.Google Scholar
Booth, James. “Communities of Memory: On Identity, Memory and Debt.” American Political Science Review 93, No. 2 (1999): 249–63.Google Scholar
Bunce, Valerie. “Comparative Democratization: Lessons from Russia and the Post-Communist World.” In After the Collapse of Communism. Comparative Lessons of Transition, edited by McFaul, Michael and Stoner-Weiss, Kathryn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.Google Scholar
Carey, John M. “Parchment, Equilibria, and Institutions.” Comparative Political Studies 33 (August–September 2000).Google Scholar
Chabal, Patrick, and Daloz, Jean-Pascal. Africa Works. Disorder as Political Instrument. Oxford and Bloomington, IN: International African Institute in association with James Currey and Indiana University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Coleman, James C. Foundations of Social Theory. New York: Belknap Press, 1990.Google Scholar
Collins, Kathleen. “The Logic of Clan Politics. Evidence from the Central Asian Trajectories.” World Politics 56 (January 2004): 224–61.Google Scholar
Dalton, Russell. “Citizen Attitudes and Political Behavior.” Comparative Political Studies 33, No. 6/7 (2000): 912–40.Google Scholar
Diamond, Larry. Developing Democracy towards Consolidation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Eckstein, Harry. “Social Science as Cultural Science, Rational Choice as Metaphysics.” In Culture Matters. Essays in Honour of Aaron Wildavsky, edited by Ellis, Richard J. and Thompson, Michael. Boulder: Westview Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Eckstein, Harry, Flearon, Frederic J. Jr., Hoffmann, Erik P., and Reisinger, William M. Can Democracy Take Root in Post-Soviet Russia? Explorations in State–Society Relations. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998.Google Scholar
Ekiert, Grzegorz, and Hanson, Stephen E., eds. Capitalism and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. Assessing the Legacy of Communist Rule. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.Google Scholar
Gibson, James L. “Social Networks, Civil Society, and the Prospects for Consolidating Russia's Democratic Transition.” American Journal of Political Science 45, No. 1 (2001): 51–69.Google Scholar
Grzymala-Busse, Anna. Redeeming the Communist Past. The Regeneration of Communist Parties in East Central Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.Google Scholar
Hope, Nicholas. “Interwar Statehood: Symbol and Reality.” In The Baltic States. The National Self-Determination of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. London: Macmillan, 1994.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York:Google Scholar
Simon & Schuster, 1996.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. Modernization and Postmodernization. Cultural, Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Jansen, Ea, and Arukaevu, Jaanus. Seltsid ja Ãhiskonna muutumine: talupoja Ãhiskonnast rahvusriigini. Tartu-Tallinn, 1995.Google Scholar
Jones-Luong, Pauline. Institutional Change and Political Continuity in Post-Soviet Central Asia. Power, Perceptions and Pacts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.Google Scholar
Kasekamp, Andres. The Radical Right in Interwar Estonia. London: Macmillan, 2000.Google Scholar
Kitschelt, Herbert, Mansfeldova, Zdenka, Markowski, Radoslaw, Tóka, Gábor, Post-Communist Party Systems. Competition, Representation, and Inter-Party Cooperation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Kitschelt, Herbert. “Accounting for Postcommunist Regime Diversity: What Counts as a Good Cause?” In Capitalism and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. Assessing the Legacy of Communist Rule, edited by Ekiert, Grzegorz and Hanson, Stephen E. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.Google Scholar
Kornai, János, Rothstein, Bo, and Rose-Ackerman, Susan, eds. Creating Social Trust in Post-Socialist Transition. London: Palgrave, 2004.Google Scholar
Lagerspetz, Mikko. “Constructing Post-Communism. A Study in the Estonian Social Problems Discourse.” Diss., Department of Sociology, Turku, 1996.Google Scholar
Lagerspetz, Mikko, Ruutsoo, Rein, and Rikmann, Erle. “Olemisest osalemiseni? Eesti kodanikualgatuse hetkeseis ja arenguvãuimalused.” Akadeemia 2, No. 131 (2000): 269–99.Google Scholar
Lieven, Anatol. The Baltic Revolution. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Path to Independence. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1993/1997.Google Scholar
Lipping, Imre. “Land Reform Legislation in Estonia and the Disestablishment of the Baltic German Rural Elite 1919–1939.” Diss., University of Maryland (mimeo), 1980.Google Scholar
Mannheim, Karl. Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1952.Google Scholar
McFaul, Michael. “The Fourth Wave of Democracy and Dictatorship: Noncooperative Transitions in the Postcommunist World.” In After the Collapse of Communism. Comparative Lessons of Transition, edited by McFaul, Michael and Stoner-Weiss, Kathryn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.Google Scholar
Petersson, Olof, Hermansson, Jörgen, Micheletti, Michele, Teorell, Jan, and Westholm, Anders. Demokrati och medborgarskap. Stockholm: SNS, 1998.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. Making Democracy Work. Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.Google Scholar
Raun, Toivo, 1997, “Estonia: Independence Redefined.” In New States, New Politics. Building the Post-Soviet Nations, edited by Bremmer, Ian and Taras, Ray. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Realo, Anu, and Allik, Juri. “A Cross-Cultural Study of Collectivism: A Comparison of American, Estonian and Russian Students.” Journal of Social Psychology 139, No. 2 (1999): 133–43.Google Scholar
Reisinger, William, M., Miller, Arthur H., Hesli, Vicki L., and Hill Maher, Kristen. “Political Values in Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania: Sources and Implications for Democracy.” British Journal of Political Science 24 (1994): 183–223.Google Scholar
Rice, Tom W., and Feldman, Jan L. “Civic Culture and Democracy from Europe to America.” Journal of Politics 59, No. 4 (1997): 1143–72.Google Scholar
Rintala, Marvin. The Constitution of Silence. Essays on Generational Themes. London: Greenwood Press, 1979.Google Scholar
Rose, Richard, Mishler, William, and Haerpfer, Christian. Democracy and its Alternatives. Understanding Post-Communist Societies. Oxford: Polity Press, 1998.Google Scholar
Rothstein, Bo. “Trust, Social Dilemmas and Collective Memories.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 12, No. 4 (2000): 477–502.Google Scholar
Rothstein, Bo. Sociala fällor och tillitens problem. Stockholm: SNS, 2003.Google Scholar
Rutter, Owen. The New Baltic States and their Future. An Account of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. London: Methuen, 1925.Google Scholar
Ruutsoo, Rein. Civil Society and Nation Building in Estonia and the Baltic States. Impact of Traditions on Mobilization and Transition 1986–2000—Historical and Sociological Study. Rovaniemi: Acta Universitatis Lapponiensis, 2002.Google Scholar
Saar, Ene. “Rahvuskesksete seltside liikmeskonna territoriaalne jaotus ja dãnaamika (1979–1989).” Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences 42, No. 2 (1992): 194–213.Google Scholar
Smith, David. “Estonia. Independence and European Integration.” In The Baltic States. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. London: Routledge, 2003.Google Scholar
Steen, Anton. “The New Elites in the Baltic States: Recirculation and Change.” Scandinavian Political Studies 20, No. 1 (1997): 91–112.Google Scholar
Stolle, Dietlind. “Clubs and Congregations: The Benefit of Joining Organisations.” In Trust in Society, edited by Cook, Karen S. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2000.Google Scholar
Uljas, Jãri. “Seltside kultuurharidduslik tegevus Eestis” [English summary: “Cultural and Educational Associations in Estonia from 1930 to 1950”. Eesti Ta Toim, Humantiaar-ja Sotsiallteatused, no. 2 (1993): 172–83.Google Scholar
Uslaner, Eric, M. The Moral Foundations of Trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.Google Scholar
Uustalu, Evald. The History of Estonian People. London: Boreas, 1952.Google Scholar
Von Rauch, Georg. The Baltic States: The Years of Independence 1917–1940. London: Hurst, 1970.Google Scholar
Whitefield, Stephen, and Evans, Geoffrey. “Political Culture versus Rational Choice: Explaining Responses to Transition in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.” British Journal of Political Science 29, No. 1 (1999): 129–54.Google Scholar