Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CEERES) – Master’s Theses

Selle kollektsiooni püsiv URIhttps://hdl.handle.net/10062/66593

Sirvi

Nüüd näidatakse 1 - 20 172

Securitizing Russian disinformation? An argumentative discourse analysis of MEPs speeches in European Parliament debates (2014–2024)
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Ahmad, Afaq; Kolodziej, Jacek, juhendaja; Prina, Federica, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis examines how the European Parliament (EP) has discursively framed Russian disinformation between 2014 and 2024 and whether such framings amount to a process of collective securitization. While the European Union (EU) has already enacted extraordinary measures—such as the 2022 ban on Russia Today and Sputnik—that reflect the securitization of disinformation at the policy level, less attention has been paid to the argumentative dynamics that shaped these outcomes. To address this gap, the study analyses seven key plenary debates in which Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) addressed Russian Disinformation, propaganda, foreign interference, and the role of information manipulation in hybrid warfare against EU (or Europe). Drawing on securitization theory and operationalizing Argumentative Discourse Analysis through Toulmin’s model of argumentation, the research systematically identifies claims, warrants, backings, and rebuttals that structured the debates. The findings reveal that Russian disinformation was predominantly framed as a threat to democratic integrity, societal cohesion, and European security, with war metaphors and appeals to EU values serving as recurrent justificatory warrants. At the same time, divergences emerged: some MEPs stressed the primacy of media freedom and cautioned against securitization’s potential overreach, while others supported exceptional measures as necessary to protect democracy. The analysis demonstrates that the EP has functioned as a discursive arena in which competing arguments nonetheless coalesced into a broad security logic, amounting to a collective securitization of Russian disinformation. By foregrounding the argumentative mechanisms underpinning this process, the thesis contributes to both securitization theory and the literature on hybrid threats, while offering insight into the EU’s evolving struggle to reconcile security imperatives with democratic freedoms in the information domain.
Framing state action: diverging narratives of Polish NGOs in the Poland-Belarus border crisis
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Nurlybayeva, Arailym; Mazurkiewicz, Agata, juhendaja; Aliyev, Huseyn, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
In recent years, the Eastern flank of the EU has been exposed to hybrid threats not only from Russia but also from Belarus. The border crisis orchestrated by the Belarusian regime has been at the centre of attention, primarily focusing on the dominant state-led narratives. The role of non-governmental organisations as discursive actors in the context of hybrid warfare is often overlooked in the existing rich body of literature. In order to fill this gap, this thesis attempts to critically examine the role of Polish NGOs in shaping public narratives. Employing critical discourse analysis of official NGO reports, the study explores how these organisations frame the responsibility shared by the Polish and Belarusian governments. The analysis reveals a notable pattern, where most of the NGOs’ criticism is directed towards Poland. By constructing a narrative where both the aggressor and victim countries of the hybrid warfare are equally responsible for the crisis, NGOs challenge the state-led securitisation of migration. Thus, operating not only as humanitarian actors, but also as counter-securitising voices. The findings support the argument of the “blurring” character of hybrid warfare, wherein different actors create their own fitting narratives. These narratives reveal the clash between different points of view on border security, protection of human rights, politics and ethical dilemmas that arise when humanitarian and legal obligations stand in the way of national security.
Beyond the binary in refugee othering: law and justice (PiS)-led government’s discursive constructions of Middle Eastern and Ukrainian refugees in Poland
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Wu, Xiaoyan; Czerska-Shaw, Karolina, juhendaja; Prina, Federica, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Over the past decade, the European Union has faced two major war-induced refugee movements: the 2015– 2016 influx from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and the mass displacement of Ukrainians following Russia’s full invasion in 2022. Despite the comparable humanitarian nature of these movements, the Polish Law and Justice/ Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS)–led government adopted sharply divergent responses: rejecting Middle Eastern refugees while welcoming over one million Ukrainians under the Temporary Protection Directive. This thesis examines how these contrasting stances were discursively constructed between 2015 and 2023, focusing on how refugee “Others” were represented in relation to Polish national identity. Drawing on Bahar Rumelili’s dual conception of securitisation (ontological and physical) and integrating biopolitical and ontological perspectives, the study develops the concepts of the “Ontological Security Other” and the “Biopolitical Other” to analyse the symbolic boundaries and hierarchies embedded in PiS narratives. Using qualitative discourse analysis of 38 official speeches, statements, and interviews, the findings reveal that while Ukrainians were initially portrayed as fraternal “Our Others”, this framing eroded over time amid economic strain and bilateral tensions. Conversely, Middle Eastern refugees were consistently depicted as culturally incompatible “Muslim Others” and burdens imposed by the EU. Yet, portrayals of vulnerable subgroups (women, children, elderly) across both cases show moments of humanitarian inclusion that complicate a strict binary. By tracing the fluidity and contradictions in these narratives, the thesis contributes to scholarship on Othering, identity politics, and refugee governance, highlighting how state self-conceptions are negotiated through differentiated refugee reception. Keywords: Law
Beyond Europeanisation: contestation and localisation of gender equality and LGBT norms in Georgia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Urban, Frederik; Gavashelishvili, Elene, juhendaja; Linsenmaier, Thomas, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis looks at the puzzling implementation of European Union-promoted gender equality and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans norms in Georgia in the period from 2014 to 2024. The research is set out to explain the puzzle of Georgia’s strong societal European Union support and political commitment towards the European Union, on the one hand, and contradictory legislation and anti-European Union rhetoric on the other hand. By investigating domestic dynamics and local actors, the thesis explains this puzzling behaviour of hybrid implementation of externally promoted norms concerning gender-based violence, women's economic empowerment, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans rights. To answer the puzzle, the analysis adopts a framework based on Europeanisation theory but improved by incorporating literature on norm contestation and localisation. The advantage of this created framework is to bring domestic actors and their actions of localising or contesting norms to the centre of attention. Accordingly, the domestic agency is seen as more than passive norm recipients. In this way it becomes possible to see how external norms are shaped by local agents, which explains the outcomes observable in Georgia. The qualitative data was collected from semi-structured interviews with local experts from civil society, academia, and international organisations. The findings of the thesis show that the main driver of the observed outcomes is the strategic agency of domestic actors. On the one hand, state and religious actors engage in “validity contestation”, framing gender equality norms, and especially those related to sexual minorities, as a threat to Georgia’s identity and sovereignty. As a result, the government engages in legislative “decoupling”, formally complying with European Union-promoted norms while restricting the actual legislative impact. On the other hand, civil society actors use the public space they have, to use localisation strategies to create norms based on European Union norms but adapted to the local context. Ultimately, the study shows that external incentives can influence the direction of a country. However, without strong societal and political support behind adopted changes, it is an easy task for political actors to revert once introduced changes.
Holocaust memory and Jewish identity in Poland and México: the role of museums and the current impact of October 7th
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Murillo, Grace Chico; Piekarska, Łucja, juhendaja; Smith, David, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
In the mournful atmosphere of Auschwitz and the halls of the Museum of Memory and Tolerance (which I will refer to throughout this paper by its original Spanish name: Museo de Memoria y Tolerancia) in México City, the Holocaust is articulated, exhibited, and negotiated. However, beyond the display cases, dates, and photographs, an essential question is posed: how should the irreparable be remembered? This work explores the landscapes of memory in two markedly different countries – Poland, the site of the genocide, and México, the post-Shoah homeland for some who managed to escape– to examine how museums and institutions construct narratives about the Holocaust, and how these narratives influence Jewish identity today. The Holocaust, one of the most significant and profoundly impactful events in recent history, continues to influence global consciousness through how it is remembered and commemorated. Over the decades, Holocaust memory has evolved, transitioning from immediate survivor testimonies to institutionalized remembrance through museums, literature, and public discourse. Nations such as Poland, which was a direct site of Nazi atrocities, have developed extensive memorialization practices. In contrast, countries like México have integrated Holocaust memory into human rights education and cultural narratives. The most outstanding features of Holocaust memory include its role in shaping historical justice, the preservation of survivor testimonies, the establishment of museums and commemorative sites, and its influence on global discussions about genocide prevention. Therefore, today, the memory of the Holocaust serves not only as a historical record but also as an urgent warning against intolerance and contemporary antisemitism, which threaten to fracture our society once again.
The (re)making of Georgianness: culinary glocalisation, migration and authenticity in Georgian restaurants in Kraków
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Tabberer, Ottilie Rose; Gajda, Kinga, juhendaja; Gibson, Catherine, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
In recent years, Georgian restaurants have become a notable feature of Poland’s urban foodscape, despite the absence of strong historical, colonial or large-scale migratory ties between Georgia and Poland. This dissertation explores how and why Georgian cuisine is travelling and transforming in the Polish context, focusing on the proliferation of Georgian-themed eateries and their possible roles as sites of cultural negotiation, belonging, adaptation and performance. The study draws on data gathered through several qualitative fieldwork methods, including interviews with Georgian and non-Georgian restaurant owners, Google Maps restaurant reviews and participant observation, using thematic analysis as the primary analytical method, to uncover how cuisines travel and how ‘Georgianness’ is (re)constructed and performed in another context. Using Kraków as the case study, this research contributes to broader discussions in transnational migration and culinary mobilisation and hybridity, offering insights into how cuisine becomes a travelling form of ethnic identity, oftentimes adapting and evolving to its glocal context.
Icons of defiance, images of loss: the monument to the ghetto heroes and the semiotics of commemoration
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Sturken, Sarah; Gawlas-Zajączkowska, Agnieszka, juhendaja; Gibson, Catherine, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis examines the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, unveiled in 1948 in Warsaw’s Muranów district and designed by Natan Rapoport, as a pivotal site of Jewish memory and postwar commemoration. While the Monument is renowned for its dual façades—one dramatizing heroic resistance, the other memorializing martyrdom—it is also a deeply symbolic response to the destruction of Polish Jewry and the Holocaust. This study investigates how the Monument mediated and shaped collective memory among surviving Polish Jews at the moment of its creation and unveiling. Employing a multimodal social semiotic analytic framework, the research explores the interplay between the Monument’s visual and material dimensions, its spatial context within the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto, and the shifting socio-political landscape of early postwar Poland. The analysis is grounded in theories of collective memory, focusing on the evolution of Jewish memory traditions and the emerging Zionist national mythology. Through detailed semiotic analysis of the Monument and its placement, this thesis argues that Rapoport’s work functioned as a dynamic site of memory, encoding a dialectic of martyrdom and resistance rooted in ancient Jewish tropes yet profoundly shaped by the ideological imperatives of its time. Ultimately, Rapoport’s Monument emerges not merely as an aesthetic or commemorative object, but as an active agent in the reconstruction and negotiation of Jewish memory in the aftermath of the Holocaust.
PiS as mnemonic warriors. A comparative analysis of changes and continuity of memory narratives in the election campaigns 2015 and 2023
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Rybicki, Viktoria; Wierenga, Louis, juhendaja; Pozarlik, Grzegorz, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
In contemporary Poland, the politics of memory have emerged as a key site of national identity formation and political legitimacy. The Law and Justice Party (PiS) has emerged as a pivotal political force in shaping historical narratives, rendering collective memory a tool of governance, a means of exclusion, and a device for populist mobilisation. While attempts to post-communist European memory politics have continued to rise, comparative, digital, and discourse analyses of how mnemonic narratives evolve within the same political party over time remain rare. This thesis examines how PiS has served as a "mnemonic warrior"during the 2015 and 2023 election campaigns by analysing how narratives of victimhood, betrayal, and national purity are constructed, reinterpreted, and disseminated through both traditional and new media. Using a mixed-methods design combining Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Digital Ethnography, the study examines party manifestos, media coverage, and social media accounts. The research employs the Discourse-Historical Approach to CDA and uses tools such as 4CAT and Zeeschuimer for gathering and analysing online material. Through examination, clear consistency in PiS’s practices of memory is identifiable, and these hinge upon selective victimhood, elite delegitimisation, and historical revisionism. But the 2023 campaign demonstrates an intensification of digital approaches, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), where previous stories are re-authored in emotive, moralising, and exclusionary narratives aimed at constructing a closed memory community. The study contributes to the understanding of right-wing populist actors weaponising memory to advance polarisation and suppress pluralism. It highlights the necessity of temporally comparative and interdisciplinary study of memory politics, particularly in relation to increasing influence.
Defining borders of identity: Armenian leadership navigating the aftermath of the second Nagorno-Karabakh War and loss of Nagorno-Karabakh
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Olszewska, Anna; Darchiashvili, David, juhendaja; Vits, Kristel, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The thesis investigates the aftermath of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020 and the Loss of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 through analysing the changing rhetoric of Armenia’s leadership around the geopolitical imaginaries of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The new status-quo around Nagorno-Karabakh has introduced challenges for Armenia’s leadership, which had to navigate the loss of a space that has been a pillar of Armenian national identity, as the recent geopolitical reconstructions in the region implied that the old identity narrations have lost its coherence. The thesis employed thematic analysis of the Armenian Prime Minister’s speeches between August 2019 and April 2024, complemented by semi-structured expert interviews. Findings show that the Armenian leadership creates a new vision of Armenia as Armenia without Karabakh but with a future despite the difficult past, Armenia with defined borders of homeland and state, prioritising civic identity over ethnic, and finally as a state that does not need an external protector. It further shows that the political legitimacy of the Armenian leadership has become increasingly fragile, and the new identity narrations introduced by the government have become a subject of both scepticism and faith. By making a broader contribution to the field of critical geopolitics, the results illustrate a broader struggle of a small, post-Soviet state, navigating a post-conflict setting and long security dependence on Russia.
Multicultural minority rights policies’ effects on minority segregation: evidence from Albanians in Montenegro`s post-independence period
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Ivan, Majić; Asim, Mujkić, juhendaja; Shpend, Kursani, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Since its independence of 2006, Montenegro has brought multiculturalism in its constitutional and legal frameworks with the aim of integrating its Albanian national minority. And while the framework itself got praised by domestic politicians, European Union and Council of Europe, its results are unquestionably limited: In nearly three decades of expanding and altering of policies, Albanians maintained a perception of being discriminated against, have grown to perceive Montenegrins more distant to them annually and remain objectively to exist in a parallel society. The aim of this paper is to explain how this outcome came to be. Hinted by the existing literature of the potential opposite effects of multiculturalism in integration, which suggests that multiculturalism in practice could potentially backfire and contribute to the establishment of a parallel society, a causal mechanism was developed that attempts to explain how Montenegrin multicultural policies failed at integrating Albanians. The causal mechanism was driven by updating theoretical expectations with empirical observations. With gathered data from already published primary sources, interviews and public statements of actors, and analysed by case-centric outcome explaining process tracing, the study came up with a sufficient explanation of the failed multicultural framework. Its found that multicultural policies demanded by Albanian national minority parties aimed at their better representation in the parliament and performance in elections, were met when the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists needed their support in the elections. Initial provisions, dictated by Democratic Party of Socialist, like lowering of the elections threshold backfired and caused a fragmentation of Albanian national minority parties. This occurred at a time when Democratic Party of Socialists was at its prime, and multicultural demands could no longer be made or sustained. However, in a decline of popularity, Democratic Party of Socialists was again drawn to the now consolidated and ethno-nationalist grievance discourse reliant Albanian national minority parties. Lastly, ethno-nationalist discourse manifested itself, putting national separation of Albanians into salience and alternative positive framing to multiculturalism and integration into the Montenegrin society.
Impact of educational instruments of Hungarian kin-state policy on the identity of Hungarian minority in Vojvodina, Serbia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Damdinsuren, Munkhtamir; Dúró, József, juhendaja; Smith, David, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The thesis examines the impact of Hungarian kin-state educational support on the self-identity of the Hungarian minority in Vojvodina, Serbia. This study addresses a gap in the literature on kin-state politics through how educational instruments of kin-state policy and support impact a kin-minority’s self-identity. The main research question is ‘How do kin-state educational interventions serve as sites of identity contestation and production, influencing the identity of a kin-minority?’ In doing so, the research employs an interpretivist single case study design and a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative methods. Data was collected through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and passive anthropological observation. The participants were university students, high school pupils, teachers, experts and officials. The research results utilise the multifaceted identities of Hungarians in Vojvodina, who convey a low level of identification not only with the majority Serbs but also with the kin-state of Hungary. The research has shown that while Hungary’s educational instruments are actively engaged with and highly regarded by the community, the impact on self-identity is not direct or straightforward. The findings show that the community does not merely adopt a singular “Hungarian” identity as designed by the kin-state’s policies. Instead, the community’s self-identification is a complex and negotiated outcome, interpreted through the lenses of shifting local contexts and individual agency. The fact that identity persists is not an indication of failure of the policy but simply a recognition of the complexity and mediated nature of the outcomes. Instead, it shows that identity is not a straightforward cause-and-effect relationship. It serves as an important reminder for researchers and policymakers that the understanding of relations between kin-states, kin-minorities and host state requires a greater understanding of how minority group agency and local contexts mediate the political effect of these policies.
Media framing and domestic political contestation of EU foreign, security and defence policy after the war in Ukraine: case study on Poland
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Katsadze, Saba; Kaczmarski, Marcin, juhendaja; Żubek, Marcin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Beyond the numbers: party, institution, and agency in women legislators’ social-welfare and family policy advocacy after Poland’s 2011 quota
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Begebayeva, Kamilla; McManus, Clare, juhendaja; Warat, Marta, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis examines how the post-2011 rise in women’s descriptive representation in the Polish Sejm is experienced and enacted in female politicians' social welfare and family policy work. The 2011 gender quota rule is treated as an important context: it expanded the pool of women on party lists, but the analysis focuses on the mechanisms that either convert presence into influence or blunt it. Using a qualitative, thematic design, this study analyses three confidential elite interviews alongside eleven publicly available long-form statements from former and current female MPs (2011-2025). The framework combines Pitkin’s (1967) dimensions of representation with feminist institutionalism and the critical mass/critical actors debate. Materials were coded using NVivo, with deductive categories from theory and inductive frames from MP’s own language. Findings show that formal gateways are largely gender-neutral on paper, yet list placements and committee allocation, leadership backing, and access to informal arenas (late-night networking, male-coded venues) shape who gains agenda time and coordination posts. Sexist language and media tone-policing raise the costs of visible leadership for women. Individual pathways vary: many women prioritise welfare and family policy through socialised experience and prior activism; others strategically pursue traditionally masculine spheres to widen what counts as women’s expertise. Numbers help, but critical mass alone is insufficient.
The idea of the Eastern neighborhood: Poland’s strategic and normative engagement with Georgia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Jajanidze, Gurami; Pożarlik, Grzegorz, juhendaja; Vilson, Maili, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Poland’s Eastern policy significantly impacts the broader Eastern Policy of the whole Euro-Atlantic bloc. Recent geopolitical turmoil, namely the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, shape the strategic landscape of the whole continent and primarily that of Central and Eastern Europe. As one of the EU’s largest countries with the highest per capita military spending and the bloc’s Eastern frontier, Poland is both directly affected by and highly motivated to influence developments in this region. Its historical experience and identity grant it even more value and strategic role. While Poland’s Eastern Policy in relation to its direct neighbors, like Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia, is well-covered in academia, its relations with indirect neighbors, including the South Caucasus, remain relatively unexplored, even though this dimension has become a quite significant part of Polish Eastern Policy during the last two decades. This MA thesis addresses this gap by examining Poland’s Eastern Policy through the case study of its engagement with Georgia, incorporating theoretical analytical lenses of contesting International Relations Theories – realism, liberalism, and constructivism. MA Thesis “The Idea of the Eastern Neighborhood: Poland’s Strategic and Normative Engagement with Georgia” on the one hand seeks to explore key drivers explaining Poland’s engagement with Georgia and dynamics of bilateral relations, and on the other hand, aims to contribute to the long-lasting debate among contesting IR Theories, examining whether realism, liberalism and constructivism best explain Polish motivations in relation with Georgia and what dynamics and patterns emerge amid this debate. The research uses a mixed method. It is an outcome-centered explanatory study analyzing Polish foreign policy towards Georgia in the period between 2004-2024. The study combines quantitative analysis, analyzing the frequency of high-level meetings between Georgian and Polish officials, and qualitative content and critical discourse analysis – exploring change and continuity in discourses of those meetings. The study finds that the drivers of Poland’s engagement vary across time and administrations, reflecting a combination of liberal (liberal intergovernmentalism and institutionalist), constructivist, and neoclassical realist principles. Early engagement is primarily shaped by liberal intergovernmentalism and institutionalism, while the peak of bilateral exchange combines constructivist ideals rooted in the Jagiellonian Mission and realist strategic interests, including energy diversification and security considerations. Policy intensity and focus shifted over time and were explicitly influenced by changes in political leadership in both countries.
Assimilation and rejection of the Soviet heritage in the identity construction of post-Soviet Cuban generation: the case of nostalgia for Soviet cartoons (muñequitos rusos) in Cuba
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Aguirre Espinosa, Isis Adriana; Piekarska, Łucja, juhendaja; Pavlova, Elena, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis explores nostalgia in the discourses surrounding Soviet cartoons—popularly remembered in Cuba as muñequitos rusos—and their role in contemporary Cuban identity construction. Using a qualitative interpretive approach, the study analyzes a corpus of newspaper articles and Facebook user comments published between 2013 and 2025. The analysis combines thematic, discursive, and narrative methods, allowing us to map the tension between "top-down" and "bottom-up" discourses to examine how post-Soviet Cuban identity is constructed. The findings demonstrate that the Soviet legacy—illustrated through nostalgic references to the muñequitos rusos—occupies an ambivalent position in the construction of post-Soviet Cuban identity, situated between acceptance and rejection, and marked by humor (Cuban choteo), criticism, aesthetics, and everyday reinterpretation. At the same time, the Cuban case reveals the importance of generational silence: younger Cuban generations construct their identities in contexts where the celebration of Soviet heritage no longer plays a central role. For them, nostalgia for muñequitos rusos appears primarily as commodified or ironic aesthetic references, rather than vehicles for restoring the past. In this sense, nostalgia in Cuba for the Soviet heritage emerges as a reflexive, commodified cultural practice, criticized through censorship, humor, and everyday economic precariousness, as well as entering dialogue and dispute with other heritages that continue to participate in contemporary Cuban identity-building processes.
Post-military defeat elections in hybrid regimes: divergent outcomes in Georgia and Armenia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Hutin, Ignacio Ezequiel; Dekalchuk, Anna, juhendaja; Aprasidze, David, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This dissertation examines the divergent electoral outcomes that followed military defeat in two post-Soviet hybrid regimes: Georgia and Armenia. In Georgia, the incumbent government was defeated after the 2008 war with Russia, a result consistent with existing literature suggesting that hybrid regimes tend to punish leaders after military setbacks. In contrast, the government secured re-election in Armenia after the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, challenging prevailing assumptions about the political consequences of military defeat. The central research question is: to what extent does a military defeat affect electoral dynamics in post-Soviet hybrid regimes? To address this, the thesis employs a multiphase, mixed-methods approach. First, it traces the evolution of public opinion surveys from before the wars through the subsequent elections, identifying shifts in voters’ main concerns. Second, it analyses media coverage during the electoral campaigns, with a focus on agenda-setting, priming, and framing theories, to assess how issues were prioritised or downplayed in shaping voter perceptions. Finally, it draws on expert interviews from both countries to explore how incumbents and opposition forces responded to these concerns and instrumentalised them in the campaigns. The findings show that the war's outcome has only a limited impact on electoral dynamics. In both cases, governments attempted to deflect responsibility by redirecting attention to other issues, highlighting achievements, blaming enemies or the opposition, and relying on loyal media outlets and state resources. The effectiveness of these strategies depended less on the defeat itself than on pre-existing factors: governmental wear and tear, support from elites, economic situation, international backing, the stance of civil society, and—above all—the strength and resources of the opposition.
Through her eyes: gendered memories of migration. A case study of Yugoslav women migrants in West Germany
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Husar, Lara; Bernard, Sara, juhendaja; Spahić, Ehlimana, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis investigates how gender shaped the experiences and memories of labour migration among Yugoslav women in the Federal Republic of Germany between the late 1960s and 1990. While dominant narratives in West Germany have long depicted female “guest workers” as passive dependents within male-dominated migration flows, this study challenges such assumptions by centring women’s own voices. Building on eight in-depth oral history interviews and employing a gendered and intersectional analytical framework, the thesis explores how participants narrate their own migration stories, workplace experiences, family roles, and social positioning between home and host societies. The findings demonstrate that Yugoslav women migrated for diverse reasons and exercised agency within the constraints of structural inequalities shaped by gender, class, and migrant status. As their life stories show, migration is remembered not as a single, fixed event but as a layered and ongoing process that influenced their identity formation, belonging, and socio-economic positioning well into retirement. Despite the influence and impact of gender in all areas of women's experiences as the analysis shows, there is nevertheless a prevailing invisibility regarding gender (discrimination), at times even on the part of the women themselves. By uncovering female counter-narratives to dominant memory regimes, this thesis contributes to feminist oral history, memory studies, and migration history. It demonstrates the importance of bottom-up perspectives for understanding how migrant women’s experiences and memories complicate and enrich existing narratives about labour migration to West Germany.
The mental maps of American decision makers and their impact on U.S. foreign policy toward Russia, 1992-1994
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Hryniv, Zahar Ivan; Ibadildin, Nygmet, juhendaja; Cassie, Nicole, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
As the Soviet Union disintegrated, the United States—now the sole superpower on the world stage—faced the unprecedented challenge of redefining its relationship with a Russia that was undergoing economic crises and political reforms. Through thematic analysis of over one hundred declassified documents and oral histories, this research examines the cognitive frameworks—or “mental maps”—held by key U.S. policymakers in the Bush 41 and Clinton administrations, focusing on how “end of history” narratives combined to shape strategic U.S. decisions around critical issues such as nuclear non-proliferation, economic assistance, democracy promotion, and NATO enlargement. This research identifies five recurring mental maps in U.S. policymaker discourse: (1) faith in the liberal international order, (2) belief in the market-democracy “double-helix”, (3) an emphasis on the personal relationship between Clinton and Yeltsin, (4) the dual-track strategy of NATO enlargement and Russian engagement, and (5) cognitive dissonance among American policymakers trying to square the circle on policy toward the Kremlin. This study addresses a central puzzle: Why did U.S. policymakers maintain unwavering support for Boris Yeltsin and optimism about Russian democratic transition from 1992-1994, despite mounting evidence of authoritarian consolidation, economic failure, and rising nationalism? My hypothesis is that the mental maps of U.S. officials were heavily shaped by the presence of democracy promotion and market reform narratives following the end-of-history moment in the immediate post-Cold War period, as well as the warm personal relationship between Clinton and Yeltsin that undergirded U.S. support for Russia even as the latter started to dismantle Russia’s nascent democracy. This analysis demonstrates the prevalence and persistence of these mental maps across different policy domains, showing how these cognitive frameworks shaped policy discourse and outcomes even as Russian realities diverged from American expectations.
The lack of interest in the remembrance of communist prison and labour camps in the Balkans: a case-study of Yugoslav Goli Otok
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Formanek, Agathe; Bakić, Sarina, juhendaja; Gibson, Catherine, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis investigates the memory of Goli Otok, the notorious political prison of the former Yugoslavia, within contemporary Croatian public life, focusing on the attitude of the Croatian State. Despite its historical significance, Goli Otok occupies a marginal position in public memory, characterized by indifference and minimal political engagement. The study addresses two research questions: how the Croatian State’s attitude can be defined, and why this apparent lack of interest persists. The analysis is grounded in memory studies, emphasizing conceptualizations of forgetting, silencing, and amnesia, which are particularly suited to examining a memory defined by absence. Empirical insights are drawn from six expert interviews, analyzed using thematic analysis. One core finding is that if a memory cannot serve a political function, it loses relevance. Goli Otok’s historical complexity. including its association with leftist prisoners and contested meanings, prevents its integration into simplified narratives that support national identity and state continuity. Consequently, it remains largely untouched by the Croatian State, which prioritizes memories that yield political benefits. Engagement with Goli Otok carries minimal reward but significant risk of backlash if mishandled, further discouraging action. Experts emphasized that this lack of engagement is not driven by malice but by political pragmatism. As a result, Goli Otok occupies a liminal space: neither actively suppressed nor fully commemorated, lying at the intersection of Hirst and Coman’s selective retrieval-induced forgetting and Connerton’s repressive erasure. Although limited by the small sample of interviews, this study provides a first in-depth exploration of the interplay between political utility, historical complexity, and collective memory in Croatia. It highlights the structural and perceptual factors that maintain Goli Otok’s marginal status while pointing to avenues for further research, including discourse analysis and comparative studies with other politically contested sites in the Balkans.
Orthodoxy and liberalism: a conceptual history of the religious aspect of liberal ideas of national identity in Russia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Fennell, Harry; Dadabayeva, Gulnara, juhendaja; Rowe, Oliver, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis explores the religious aspect of liberal ideas of national identity in the late Romanov Empire, focusing on how Orthodoxy shaped the work of key Russian liberal thinkers. While liberalism is often portrayed as a secular and Western ideology, this study argues that a distinctive Russian liberalism emerged through a innovative engagement with Orthodox theology, specifically concepts such as Sobornost, and Godmanhood. In doing so, it challenges dominant narratives of liberalism and postcolonial scholarship, in particular the notion of Russia’s ideological subalternity. Methodologically, the thesis employs Reinhart Koselleck’s approach to conceptual history to trace the evolution and semantic layering of concepts such as liberalism, national identity, and Orthodoxy. It focuses on three major philosophical and political symposia from the early twentieth century: Problems of Idealism, Landmarks, and Out of the Depths. In doing so, it analyses how Russian thinkers such as Nikolai Berdyaev, Sergei Bulgakov, and Pyotr Struve synthesised European idealism with Orthodoxy. The thesis demonstrates that these thinkers articulated a vision of national identity rooted not solely in ethnic chauvinism or secular nationalism, but in a theological ideal of personalism and cultural renewal. Their critique of positivism, materialism, and Western historicism led them to propose an alternative temporality; one shaped by a dialectic of loss and recovery, informed by both European and Orthodox intellectual traditions. By recovering this neglected current of religious liberalism, the thesis contributes to the broader rethinking of Russian nationalism, and identity. It ultimately challenges the binaries of East and West, secular and religious, and progress and reaction, offering a more nuanced approach for understanding Russian political thought.

Sirvi

Viimati lisatud