Läänemere regiooni uuringute õppekava magistritööd – Master´s theses

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10062/50049

Browse

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6

Against the thallasocracy: fascism and traditionalism in Alexander Dugin’s neo-Eurasianist philosophy
(Tartu Ülikool, 2015) Rushbrook, Jonathan; Blobaum, Robert, juhendaja; Pääbo, Heiko, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
This thesis discusses the ideological makeup of the Russian right wing philosopher Alexander Dugin. Tracing Dugin’s ideological influences from early Eurasianism, the European New Right and esoteric religious beliefs such as Perennial Traditionalism, the thesis then goes on to place Dugin’s body of thought within a larger debate on defining fascism and whether Dugin can be considered a fascist. The thesis emphasizes that Dugin’s Neo-Eurasianist imperial project disqualifies him from any typical fascist taxonomy. Instead, Neo- Eurasianism represents a genuinely unique strain of extreme right wing thought that, though shares many similarities with historic fascism, nonetheless cannot be considered fascist due to Dugin’s profoundly anti-modern vision and the supranational emphasis of his imperial objectives in which Russia plays a major role - but a role that places the Russian nation in a greater cultural, geographical, and civilizational identity. Ultimately this thesis contests some scholars’ interpretations of Dugin’s worldview as a fundamentally ethnocentric or even racist Russian nationalism. Rather, this thesis argues that Dugin holds a fundamentally religious understanding of reality that sees nations as manifestations of a spiritual, rather than a biological, essence. Thus it precludes Dugin from any purely biological racism. à la National Socialism.
Belarus's national narratives and representation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Belarus's history textbooks
(Tartu Ülikool, 2014) Rjaščenko, Jevgēnijs; Blobaum, Robert, juhendaja; Kasekamp, Andres, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
Master’s thesis Belarus’s National Narratives and Representation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Belarus’s History Textbooks in its theoretical framework excessively relies on the discussion of the existing approaches towards the study of nationalism such as the perennialist, the modernist/constructivist and the ethno-symbolist. The ethnosymbolist approach by Anthony D. Smith, however, is chosen as the most appropriate for the empirical case of Belarus’s nation-building process and therefore, its ability to explain different expressions of Belarus’s national narratives is emphasized. The thesis combines the aforementioned theoretical framework with an empirical discussion of Belarus’s post-independence nation-building process in order to explain the peculiarity of the Belarus’s case in which the official national narrative coexists with the alternative national narrative in Belarus’s public sphere. The research question, however, is centered on the problem of the Belarus’s national narrative, as outlined in Belarus’s history textbooks, and its representation of Lithuania with regard to the medieval past of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which is shared by the both modern republics of Belarus and Lithuania. With the analysis of history textbooks, the thesis responds to concerns of some Lithuanian historians and answers the question whether the Belarus’s national narrative and the representation of Lithuania presented in the textbooks are contesting and “rewriting” the Lithuanian past in terms of their input in the creation and maintenance of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the mid-thirteenth century until the late eighteenth century. The aforementioned research provides an unprecedented analysis of Belarus’s history textbooks in regard to their representation of another national group during the particular period of the shared medieval past.
The effect of hegemonic masculinity in the proportion of women in post-communist parliaments: a case study of Estonia and Poland
(Tartu Ülikool, 2014) Moreland, Anne; Blobaum, Robert, juhendaja; Kutsar, Dagmar, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The underrepresentation of women in national parliaments is a phenomenon that plagues much of the world, with the Baltic Sea Region being no exception. Two countries, Estonia and Poland, are chosen for comparative analysis in this paper, as they possess different cultures and histories, but have similar results in regards to female representation at a national level. The comparison provides insight into the situation women face in politics in two post-communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. This paper will examine the trends in the proportion of female representatives in Poland and Estonia’s national parliaments in the transition from communism to democracy and post-transition periods. The work seeks to conceptualize why women in Poland and Estonia continue to be grossly underrepresented in the upper echelons of power by employing R.W. Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity entails the cultural force that both dominates and subordinates femininity as well as other masculinities, thus resulting in low proportions of women in the national parliaments of the new countries examined. Three time periods are developed for a fuller analysis of changes in the amount of women seated in the upper echelons of power: the communist period, the transition period, 1989-2004, and the post-transition period, 2004-2012. The work notes the changes in gender equality policies in each country after the accession to the European Union in 2004 and the possibilities of greater gender equality in each state.
Political textbooks in a political world: a case-study of an Estonian history textbook
(Tartu Ülikool, 2011) Bentley, James Berkeley; Pääbo, Heiko, juhendaja; Blobaum, Robert, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
In the 1990s, the Estonian state was characterized by a relatively rapidly developing political scene. The developments occurred in such a short time period as to render the national history textbook ineffective and thus ill-suited to its perceived use as a tool of socialization into the state, providing an excellent case-study of the limitations of the relationship between textbook and state. This study analyzes the narrative of an Estonian national history textbook produced in the mid 1990s and uses the product of that narrative analysis to map the shifting political winds as represented in the professional rhetoric of the Estonian head-of-state over the course of that textbook’s conception, production, and use in Estonian public high schools: from 1994 through the 1998 school year. The results of this study are an identification of the driving threads of the Estonian historical narrative presented in the textbook and a view of the changing interpretation and reconstruction of that historical narrative by President Lennart Meri over the course of the time period studied.
Russian soft power cultivation in the United States of America: a media content analysis of Russia beyond the headlines
(Tartu Ülikool, 2015) Evans, David; Pääbo, Heiko, juhendaja; Blobaum, Robert, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The relationship between Russia and the United States of America has been a dominant feature of the international relations landscape for much of the last century. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, this relationship has been significantly altered. Over the last decade, a resurgent Russia has begun to exert its influence on the global stage once again. This effort has been characterized by a mixture of traditional “hard power” and a relatively new form of “soft power.” The government of the Russian Federation has developed a broad strategy for engaging the rest of the world with the intention of improving the image of Russia. One component of this effort began in 2007 when the Russian-government-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper began to publish a supplemental news section in the Washington Post and the Daily Telegraph. This supplemental news section is now known as Russia Beyond the Headlines, and it is published in 26 countries and 16 languages. The purpose of this publication is to engage an elite section of foreign audiences around the world, and hopefully influence their mindset as it relates to Russia. This thesis provides a historical background of the Soviet Union and Russian Federation’s efforts at cultivating soft power in general, as well as an in-depth study of the content of Russia Beyond the Headlines during 2014 in the three domestic US newspapers (the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal). This study ultimately concludes that the content of Russia Beyond the Headlines within the US market is adequately able to achieve its goals through a variety of strategies, and that further research is needed to understand the larger impact of the Russian Federation’s exercise of soft power in both the United States of America and around the world.
Trauma, memory and victimhood: Estonia and the holocaust, 1998-2012
(Tartu Ülikool, 2013) Stocker, Paul Oliver; Blobaum, Robert, juhendaja; Pettai, Eva-Clarita, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut

Browse

Browsing Läänemere regiooni uuringute õppekava magistritööd – Master´s theses by Author "Blobaum, Robert, juhendaja"