Identity in Transition: Effects of a National Language Education Policy in Estonia

• In Event: Language Dynamics in Transition: Case Studies from Ukraine, North America, and Estonia

Abstract

How does a nationwide change in the language of general education affect students’ and their close contacts’ ethnic self-identification, integration into Estonian society, and participation in the domestic political system? This paper unites deep qualitative fieldwork with data from an original survey to shed light onto the ways in which the policy mandating the transition to Estonian language of instruction in schools affects identity and social cohesion among majority and minority groups. Careful attention is paid to the importance of historical memory and theories of post-communist nation-building.

Author

• Laura Howells, Princeton U