Estonians in the World: The Third Wave

• In Event: Migration and Transnationalism

Abstract

The restoration of independence of Estonia in 1991 can tentatively be called the start of a new migration pattern, the third migration wave. The Western states, unattainable until now, were just a visa and a plane-flight or ship-journey away for Estonians from the early 1990's. Such freedom inspired people to look for work, for self-fulfilment, for challenges and a new home in the countries of Western Europe.

After Estonia joined the European Union in 2004, however, the emigration picked up considerably. Western European countries became the main destinations - first of all Great Britain, Ireland, Finland and Sweden. In 2014, major changes also took place in the list of countries with a community of Estonians. By 2014 Finland had become the most popular foreign country among Estonians for settling in.

In my presentation, I will open Estonian lives outside of Estonia, motivation why people are deciding to go to abroad and how they will stay connected with Estonia. Also, I am showing how Estonians living abroad can be seen as human resource on standby, ready to return to Estonia and apply their knowledge to the development of life here when suitable circumstances appear.

Short Bio

Keiu Telve has master's degree in ethnology from University of Tartu and she graduated 2015 with a thesis "Qualitative Approach to Work Migration: A Case Study of Estonian Male Commuters in Finland". At the moment, she is dong her PhD in ethnology and human geography at University of Tartu and University of Eastern Finland. She belongs to two research groups "Inequalities in Motion: Transnational Families in the Estonian-Finnish Context" and "Inequalities of Mobility: Relatedness and Belonging of Transnational Families in the Nordic Migration Space" and continues to study cross-border mobility and her main research interests are work migration, cross border movement, family-life and transnationality.

Author

• Keiu Telve, University of Tartu