Narva as a Cultural Borderland: Estonian, European, Russophone
(RAD) Abstract: Looking at Narva, the Estonian city with strong Russian roots, through the lens of culture allows us to see it less as a threat and more as an opportunity. Current…
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Estonia
28 posts
A Popular Geopolitics of the Refugee Crisis in Europe: The Re-actualization of Identity-driven Geopolitical Narratives in Estonia
(Geopolitics) The article examines the question of how the refugee crisis in Europe re-actualizes the existing national geopolitical narratives and affects the border-(re)drawing of European political communities. I particularly refer to…
Unpacking the Post-Soviet: Political Legacy of the Tartu Semiotic School
(All Azimuth) (Co-authored with A. Yatsyk) Abstract: This article sketches out general approach to using cultural semiotics as a cognitive tool for analyzing international relations in general and in post-Soviet area…
Not All Is Lost in Russian-EU Cross-Border Cooperation
(PONARS Policy Memo) Russian-EU relations have dramatically worsened since Russia’s involvement in Ukrainian affairs in 2014. Mutual mistrust and suspicion have rapidly increased and many cooperative efforts have been canceled.…
Estonia and the refugees: political discourses and artistic representations
(Global Affairs) (Co-authored with A. Yatsyk) The article addresses two dimensions of the refugee debate in Estonia – political discourses and cultural representations. The authors specifically focus on distinctions between…
Lotman’s Cultural Semiotics and the Political (New Book)
(Co-authored with A. Yatsyk) Yuri Lotman (1922-1993) was a prominent Russian intellectual and theorist. This book presents a new reading of his semiotic and philosophical legacy. The authors analyse Lotman's semiotics in a…
Russia–EU Borderlands after the Ukraine Crisis: The Case of Narva
(Book chapter) (Co-author: A. Makarychev) Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the military insurgency in Ukraine’s eastern provinces triggered political and academic debates on various issues related to post-Soviet borderlands, above…
Nation Building, Political Boundaries, and Cultural Authenticity: Post-Soviet Borderlands in Transformation
(Cambridge Scholars Publishing) (Co-author: A. Makarychev) This article analyzes today’s independent ex-Soviet borderlands (Ukraine, Georgia, and Estonia) of the Russian Federation. More precisely, the authors identify the cultural and social practices…
Celebrating Borderlands in a Wider Europe: Nations and Identities in Ukraine, Georgia and Estonia
(Nomos) (Co-author: A. Yatsyk) This book addresses Estonian, Ukrainian and Georgian identities which have developed against the backdrop of Russia’s neo-imperialist policies and the EU’s normative projection of power. With…
The “Narva Paradox” and a Reality Check
(UT Blog) (Co-authored with Stefano Braghiroli) Estonia – The annexation of Crimea and the military insurgency in Ukraine’s eastern provinces under the “Russian world” slogan triggered political and academic debates centred…