Anthropologist: Environmental care no longer national concern for Estonia
PERMALINKAnthropologist: Environmental care no longer national concern for Estonia
If the Singing Revolution represents the peak of Estonian protest spirit, the declaration of independence marked the end of Estonian activism. Aet Annist, an associate professor of ethnology at the University of Tartu and senior research fellow at the University of Tallinn, spoke to Novaator about how the social currents and attitudes shaped our environmental activism after liberation.
news.err.ee“A rapidly changing society failed to recognize the structural and systemic causes of poverty and decline. It was as if the victim was entirely to blame for his or her situation.”
“This allowed us, in Annist’s view, to paint a picture of the opposite of dysfunctional: the individualistic and successful achiever. People held up this imaginary figure as a standard for others, disregarding the fortunate circumstances and supportive environment that typically led these individuals to success.”
“The demonstration attempted to change the situation in which farmers were continually spilling milk. Usually, they only did it on their farms. The demonstration attempted to bring this painful requirement to the public’s attention, but it became bogged down in reflection and interpretation of the action.”
“comparing the success of the 1980s protest to the 2017 action against tree felling for a road repair project in a Tallinn suburb. On the one hand, the wider public debate did not address whether such a road widening was even essential. On the other hand, the demonstrators were mocked for concentrating on the protection of reed. ”The protest was described as a waste of time, for example, because a hard-working citizen cannot be involved in such ‘nonsense,’” Annist explained.”
“Since the 1990s, instead of showing solidarity, Estonians have been comparing themselves with others on the basis of material indicators, she suggested. “It’s as if everyone’s future is being sacrificed for the sake of material success and the approval of the richest. Such blinders did not limit our thinking in the 1980s; today, very few of us are free of them. Unfortunately, it is difficult for us and for those in power to step back and reflect on whether the goals set in the 1990s are all sustainable,” she said.”