This thesis utilizes a multi-perspectival cultural and media studies approach analyzing the production, filmic text, and reception of Taarka, the first film about Setos, that is advertised as a (docu)drama. However, the analysis shows that it can also be interpreted as an ethnographic film. It examines which intersecting identities related to Seto women are depicted in the film and whether audiences and critics recognize the power dynamics of these intersections. It also analyses how the Estonian cultural economic environment, the filmic text, audience comments and critics reviews reinforce or challenge hegemonies connected with these intersections. Drawing on the principles of postcolonial feminism, intersectionality, and other critical theories, the thesis concludes that even though the filmic text challenges traditional gender roles, it still reinforces the Estonians’ one-sided portrayal of an exotic, commodified Seto ethnicity. Moreover, the cultural economic environment and reception of the film also bolster this view of Seto ethnicity. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2007.

This thesis aims to clarify the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s approach to post-Cold War tensions and conflicts in the former Soviet area, the extent to which the new procedures, mechanisms and instruments developed by the organisation are useful, and how the OSCE's activities may reveal innovative contributions to conflict studies. An integrating analysis is needed, not only of the OSCE's development. but also of the numerous aspects conditioning OSCE approaches in the former Soviet space. particularly the involvement of other international organisations and the role of the Russian Federation. In this sense. OSCE activities take place in a complex environment that demands a comprehensive addressing of the different factors. at times limiting and at others strengthening the organisation's reach. How this interplay takes place and the extent to which it affects the OSCE's role in the former Soviet space is a fundamental question. Starting from the theoretical conceptualisation where the OSCE's approaches and procedures fit. this analysis includes the organisation's new tools to address conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. How it renders the new procedures and instruments operational, how its institutions inter-relate and the extent to which its principles and activities are extended to its wide area are analysed. The role of the OSCE Field Missions in the former Soviet Union is stressed in this regard. demonstrating how the organisation applies commitments to reality. The focus on the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Moldova, as two case-studies of OSCE involvement in the former Soviet Union area, show the organisation's preventive efforts and crisis settlement tools in practical terms. The case-studies demonstrate the encompassing approaches of the organisation in the field, permitting us to infer on its limits and possibilities and to shed light on the OSCE's possible innovative contributions to conflict studies.

<p>The purpose of this thesis was to from a Swedish perspective investigate the fantastic growth rates of Estonia and Latvia and why it became such a massive collapse when the world economy was slowing down.</p><p>To build a theoretical foundation for the investigation several international macroeconomic theories such as the Mundell-Flemming model, the fundamental national income equilibrium, and international parity relations were used.</p><p>The empirical section shows that Estonia and Latvia have based much of their growth on imports from their Baltic and especially their Nordic neighbours. At the same time they have been highly dependent on continuously growing Nordic stock markets and high risk appetite from investors to be able to keep the fabulous growth figures.</p><p>The conclusions drawn are that it has been possible for Estonia and Latvia to grow at fast rates, by running large current accounts deficits, as long as the world was in a boom. But when the world economy is slowing down they are now forced into the very painful process of re-establishing a more balanced current account.</p>

Rezension zu drei Werken zur Musik und Musikgeschichte Estlands

Estonian national identity is defined by its centuries-long struggle forindependence and autonomy. This thesis examines this struggle and resulting identity through the lens of the laulupidu, or song festival, and its employment as a vehicle of political mobilization and re-constructor of Estonian history. Regarding folklore, in this case festivals and folk songs, as containers of the soul of the nation, I show how Estonians have produced and reproduced their national identity through the practice which they hold sacred: choral singing. I implemented a critical geopolitical approach coupled with Billig’s concepts of ‘hot’ and banal nationalism, and Paasi’s focus on independence, to study the 2014 song festival, entitled “Touched by Time. The Time to Touch.” Utilizing the song selection from the 2014 festival and comparing it against the programs from festivals ranging from 1869-2009 (from which selections were gleaned for the 2014 event), this thesis shows how Estonian national identity and historical memory are reconstructed through the symbolic choice of song.

The purpose of this thesis was to from a Swedish perspective investigate the fantastic growth rates of Estonia and Latvia and why it became such a massive collapse when the world economy was slowing down. To build a theoretical foundation for the investigation several international macroeconomic theories such as the Mundell-Flemming model, the fundamental national income equilibrium, and international parity relations were used. The empirical section shows that Estonia and Latvia have based much of their growth on imports from their Baltic and especially their Nordic neighbours. At the same time they have been highly dependent on continuously growing Nordic stock markets and high risk appetite from investors to be able to keep the fabulous growth figures. The conclusions drawn are that it has been possible for Estonia and Latvia to grow at fast rates, by running large current accounts deficits, as long as the world was in a boom. But when the world economy is slowing down they are now forced into the very painful process of re-establishing a more balanced current account.

Darbas siekia dviejų lygiagrečių tikslų – visų pirma analizuojamos tautinius judėjimus nagrinėjančios teorinės kryptys bei siekiama nustatyti, kaip vystėsi tautiniai judėjimai Lietuvoje ir Estijoje nuo XIX a. iki 1918 metų. Teorinėje dalyje teigiama tautinius judėjimus esant tarp susikertančių trijų dimensijų: socialinio judėjimo, nacionalizmo bei tautinio kolektyvinio veikimo. Šios dimensijos aptariamos atskirai, aptariamos skirtingos nacionalizmo, tautinio identiteto kilmės teorijos. Daroma išvada, jog tautinius judėjimus gali mobilizuoti etninė priklausomybė tam tikrai tautinei grupei, bet taip pat etniniai judėjimai gali būti ir naujų suverenių teritorijų atsiradimo pasekmė. Siekiant surasti galimus naujus požiūrio į tautinius judėjimus taškus – apžvelgiamos pagrindinės teorijos, analizuojančios tautinių judėjimų klausimą, susintetinamos keturios pagrindinės dimensijos tolimesniam darbo tyrimui: kultūrinė/socialinė; ekonominė; vidaus politikos bei tarptautinė – iškeliami kiekvienai dimensijai esminiai klausimai. Antroje darbo dalyje analizuojami Lietuvos ir Estijos tautiniai judėjimai. Pradžioje apžvelgiamas istorinis kontekstas iki XIX amžiaus, vėliau analizuojamas periodas suskaidomas į tris smukesnius periodus, analizuojamus teorinėje dalyje išskirtomis dimensijomis. Darbo eigoje nustatomas esminis vokiečių ir estų antagonizmo poveikis formuojantis estų tautiniam judėjimui, aptariamos lietuviško identiteto dvilypumo problemos – etninis identitetas prieš politinį. ... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Study aims at two parallel goals. The first part of the study focus on theories analysing national movements. The second part consists of comparative analysis of Lithuanian and Estonian national movements from XIX century up to the year 1918. In theoretical part research argues that national movements are in the intersection of social movements, ethnic collective action and nationalism. Each of these dimensions are studied separately, also different origins of nationalism national identity are discussed. Statement is made that national identity can be formed on ethnic bases, but also it is possible for national identity to be formed out of sovereignty of certain territories. The main aim of the research focuses on finding new approaches to the national movement studies, therefore most important theoretical frames are examined. Following analysis four dimensions are synthesized in order to be used in the empirical part of the research. Dimensions are: social/cultural; economical; internal politics; international system – each of these dimensions are characterized by some specific questions. Second part of the study analyses Lithuanian and Estonian national movements. At first historical context is determined, later on whole period of the study is divide in to three part, and each is analysed through four main dimensions. The study finds strong antagonism between Baltic Germans and Estonians as one of the main catalyst for the formation of Estonian identity also shows dual... [to full text]

Magistrinio darbo tema - Parlamentinio valdymo formavimas Lietuvoje ir Estijoje: palyginamoji analizė. Politologo G.E. Isakssono teorijoje pateikiami trys parlamentinio valdymo kriterijai - daugumos, santykinės daugumos ir rinkimų laimėjimo, kuriais vadovaujantis suformuotas parlamentinis valdymas geriausiai atspindėtų rinkėjų išreikštą pasirinkimą, taip sudaryta parlamentinė sistema būtų optimaliai sėkmingiausia. Tačiau teorija nutolsta nuo praktikos, kas ir steigia darbo problemą – šių kriterijų taikomumo paiešką Lietuvos ir Estijos parlamentinio valdymo formavime. Tyrimo objektas, tai yra konkretus darbo atskaitos taškas, yra parlamentinio valdymo kriterijų pritaikomumas formuojant parlamentines Lietuvos ir Estijos valdžias. Magistrinio darbo tikslas – ištirti suformuotas Lietuvos ir Estijos parlamentines valdžias pagal daugumos, santykinės daugumos ir rinkimų laimėjimo kriterijus. Šį tikslą realizuoti padeda išsikelti uždaviniai, pagrindiniai iš jų: palyginti Lietuvos ir Estijos parlamentiniame valdyme aptinkamą parlamentinio valdymo kriterijų pritaikomumą; atrasti ar egzistuoja partinės sistemos rodiklių ryšys su parlamentinio valdymo kriterijų pritaikomumu Lietuvos ir Estijos atvejais; išsiaiškinti daugumos, santykinės daugumos ir rinkimų laimėjimo kriterijų taikomumo ryšį su vyriausybės stabilumu. Tyrimo uždaviniams išspręsti ir darbo tikslą pasiekti padeda lyginamosios analizės, kuri yra naudojama palyginti parlamentinio valdymo formavimą Lietuvoje ir Estijoje... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The topic of Master paper is ‘Parliamentary Government Formation in Lithuania and Estonia: Comparative Analysis‘. When talking about parliamentary government formation, parliamentary doctrine criteria are often mentioned. Three of these principles are discussed here: those of majority, plurality and electoral gain. The more these principles are taken into account the more successful the parliamentary system is assumed to be; or, the more they are carried out, the closer to a situation of optimal parliamentary government the political system gets. The object of research is the implementation of parliamentary doctrine criteria in Lithuania and Estonia parliamentary government formation. The purpose of Master paper is to make a survey of majority, plurality and electoral gain principles implementation in Lithuania and Estonia parliamentary government. Our tasks help us to make the survey: one of task is to compare Lithuania and Estonia parliamentary government according to these parliamentary doctrine criteria. The second one is to find the relationship between party system (which is measured by fragmentation, aggregation, effective party number end electoral volatility) and our mentioned criteria. The third task is to find how majority, plurality and electoral gain principles implementation affect parliamentary government stability in Lithuania and Estonia. We use these methods: comparative analysis, qualitative comparative analysis, descriptive and correlation methods. Our... [to full text]

Development of biomass energy plantations is one approach to mitigate and adapt to climate change and the energy challenges related to it; however, climate change will affect the climate conditions and in turn the selection of crops and trees suitable for renewable energy sources. In Estonia, electricity is mainly based on oil shale but since their integration in the European Union they are required to increase the share of energy from renewable sources. In this study, the possible changes of suitable species are assessed by examining the current and the future prospects and potentials with biomass energy derived from energy plantations in Estonia, taking climate change into consideration. The biomass energy potentials for the species that are climate suitable in current and future time are manually estimated, using a case study approach when determining the yields. The study result suggests that biomass energy from crops and trees have great development possibilities and that climate is not a key limitation for the selection of suitable species; in addition, the energy crops and trees appear to suit the future climate conditions better than the current. The results indicate that the established national target of 25% of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy by 2020 could be achieved to a large extent by putting energy plantations into practice.