Ethnicity and Social Exclusion in Estonia and Latvia

Short and Medium term Dynamics and their Influence on Acquisitive Crime Rates in the Transition States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

“…For instance, many of the Slavs in Latvia and Estonia do not hold citizenship from their country of residence, which means that they do not have the right to vote in national elections nor to hold certain public positions. As suggested by Aasland andFlotten (2001:1024) this is already "a form of exclusion which may lead to a feeling of social exclusion as well". Low participation in elections is interpreted here as a sign of weakening social bonds, a lack of engagement in the newly implemented democratic process and general mistrust in society.…”

“…Differences in life styles, lack of citizenship and long term socio-economic marginalisation of certain ethnic groups in the Baltic countries (e.g., Slavic minorities in Latvia and Aasland and Flotten 2001), have historically generated particular propensities to offend (e.g., Russians and violent crime in Lehti 2001). According to police statistics, the violent criminality of the non-Estonian (mainly Russian) population has been higher than the Estonian population for several decades.…”

Systems of Partial Control: Ethnic Dynamics in Post-Soviet Estonia and Latvia

“…Wherever there is a leader who wishes to speak primarily for the interests of the Baltic people, he evidently falls under the scrutiny, even the dominance, of someone less representative of these people" (Fleming 1977, p. 125). A fair assessment of how much Russians dominated the economic sector of Baltic society is that "...[in terms of economic status] few would argue that the Slavs on average were worse off than ethnic Estonians and Latvians" (Aasland andFlotten 2001, p. 1024).…”

Nation-States into Nationalising States

“…It has also been argued that the regulation of language use in the public sphere has divided the Baltic societies not into titular/nontitular members, but rather it has created an ethnically specific social structure, the socalled 'ethnoclass' (Agarin, 2013). Some researchers indicated that the risk of social exclusion was endemic for all non-titular residents; those who were non-conversant in the state language were excluded outright from access, not to mention participation in public life (Aasland and Fløtten, 2001). Others suggest that legislation on language use passed in early 1990s has effectively formed a group of people who were pushed away from 'political society' and have since not recovered their affinity for political institutions, political elites and state ideology that treated their residence as expedient (Golubeva, 2010).…”