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Tartu University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Political Science ANNIKA AVIKSON ESTONIA ON ITS WAY TOWARDS A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY Bachelor Thesis Tutor: Ph.D Raivo Vetik Tartu 2000 CONTENTS Introduction 3 The emergence and essence of multiculturalism 6 From assimilation to integration to multiculturalism 6 The concept of multiculturalism 7 What is multiculturalism? 9 Western strategies towards minority integration 13 Canada 14 Sweden 19 Estonia 24 General background 24 Soviet legacy 25 Factors affecting integration in Estonia 28 Ethnic composition in contemporary Estonia 28 The issue of identity 30 The issue of citizenship 34 The issue of language 39 The issue of education 41 Media consumption 44 Four acculturation strategies 46 Integration of non-Estonians 47 Estonian version of a multicultural society 52 General attitude towards integration 55 Criticism towards Estonia 57 Estonia compared to the West 60 How does Estonia compare to Canada and Sweden? 64 Conclusion 68 References 70 Resume 75 Diversity is a fact of life; whether it is the “spice” or the “irritant” to people is the fundamental psychological, social, cultural and political issue of our times. (Realo 1998: 203) INTRODUCTION Today most countries in the world are culturally plural, with more than one ethnicity and language represented in their populations. As a result of the demographic changes and high levels of migration that occurred after World War II this applies also to Western European nation-states that earlier used to be culturally and ethnically rather homogenous. In order to guarantee normal functioning of the society it is obvious that nation states have had to develop policies towards their pluralism. Many attempt to forge some homogeneity through a process of assimilation (this was mor