Estonia is slated to celebrate its cultural diversity throughout 2014. The year will be declared “Kultuurilise Mitmekesisuse aastaks”.
One may ask how this is compatible with the widely accepted notion that Estonia is a ‘nation-state’, which usually denotes territory that is ruled in the name of a community of citizens who see themselves as a nation. This core group claims the state as belonging to them and declares their right to self-determination.
Most Estonians, if asked, probably take the above as their personal position. We would likewise also agree with a more general geo-political definition, that a nation-state is simply a politically sovereign country or administrative territory.
But the European fringe right interprets the first definition from the most ethnocentric, restrictive viewpoint. In contrast, the far-left states that nation states inhibit minorities from protecting their heritage.
Estonians know that their notion of a nation-state derives from a need for survival as a distinct people, not a need to dominate. It’s a justified response to the historic threat of Russification.
(Pikemalt saab lugeda Eesti Elu 28. juuli 2023 paber- ja digilehest)
Laas Leivat: Nation state and cultural diversity
Eestlased Kanadas | 28 Jul 2023 | Eesti Elu
Eestlased Kanadas
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