Emerging, submerging and persisting ideas: is there social and cultural geography in Estonia?

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank warmly all the Estonian geographers who contributed to this report and provided the necessary references; especially Professor Ann Marksoo who pointed me towards several sources. I am also grateful to Professors Michael Jones and Tim Unwin, as well as Associate Professor Gunhild Setten for their fresh comments from ‘outside’ the close circle of Estonian geography. Many thanks also to Helju Jüssi for casting an eye over the Estonian version of the text.

Tänus[otilde]nad

Tahaksin tänada k[otilde]iki eesti geograafe, kes andsid oma panuse selle ülevaate valmimisse ja viitasid olulisele; eriti professor Ann Marksood, kes juhatas kätte vajalikud niidiotsad. Ma olen tänulik ka Michael Jonesile, Gunhild Settenile ning Tim Unwinile nende värskete tähelepanekute eest väljastpoolt eesti geograafia suletud ringi. Eestikeelse versiooni k[otilde]pitsemise eest suur aitäh Helju Jüssile.

Notes

1 Kasutan sotsiaalgeograafia m[otilde]istet siinses artiklis laiemas kontekstis sotsiaalseid protsesse uuriva geograafiana ja seega ühiskonna- v[otilde]i inimgeograafia ajaloolise vastena mitte pelgalt ühe inimgeograafia allharuna. Sotsiaalsete ja kultuuriliste protsesside uurimisele on keskendutud erineva ”katuse” all juba seet[otilde]ttu, et geograafiat nähakse Eestis eelk[otilde]ige kui loodus- mitte sotsiaalteadust.

2 Kohustuslik [otilde]ppeperiood geograafiadiplomi saamiseks kestis viis aastat. Igal aastal tuli kirjutada kursusetöö ja viimasel kursusel diplomitöö, mis pidi demonstreerima iseseisva uurimistöö (andmete kogumise) ja analüüsi oskust. Ainult diplomitöid säilitatakse Geograafia instituudi raamatukogus Tartus.

3 Erandiks on geograafia[otilde]petajate koolitamine Tallinna Pedagoogilises Instituudis (Tallinna ülikool) 1950. aastatel ja uuesti alates 1990. aastate keskpaigast (praegu Ökoloogia instituudi kaudu); täpselt teadmata (väike) arv eesti geograafe on [otilde]ppinud N[otilde]ukogude Liidu teistes ülikoolides.

4 Geograafia teaduskeskusena tuleb lisaks eelloetletule märkida ka P[otilde]llumajandusülikooli ning TA Majandusinstituuti. Geograafia jaoks oli oluline Eesti Geograafia Seltsi asutamine Teaduste Akadeemia juures 1955. aastal.

5 Looduskaitse tähendusest rahvuslikus diskursuses ja seostest vt ka Lauristin, Vihalemm, Rosengren ja Weibull (1997); ning geograafia loodusteaduslikust tuumast veel (Kurs 2000; Peil 2005).

6 Näiteks, Tartu ülikooli Inimgeograafia [otilde]ppetooli töötajate publikatsioonide nimekirjas on aastatel 1989– 1994 esitatud 185 ajaleheartiklit (lisaks umbes 50 ajakirjades); samal ajal oli teadusartiklite arv 20 (nimekiri Raagmaa 1995 järgi). Osalt oli p[otilde]hjuseks ka üleminekuperioodi majandusraskused, varasemate teaduslike avaldamiskanalite sulgumine, raskused rahvusvahelistesse ajakirjadesse pääsemisel.

7 Viiteid vaata PECSRL-i kodulehelt www.pecsrl.org; link ’conferences’. Tänan professor Michael Jonesi nende PECSRL-i puutuvate märkuste eest.

1 I have used the term ‘societal geography’ in this paper in a wider sense as geography focusing on examining various aspects in society and thus the historical (Soviet) equivalent of human geography not merely as the sub-discipline of social geography. The analysing of social and cultural phenomena in space has been conducted under various umbrellas not least due to geography in Estonia being predominantly understood as belonging among the natural not social sciences.

2 The obligatory undergraduate course for a university diploma in the Soviet period covered five years of study. Yearly a so-called course essay had to be admitted culminating with a diploma paper which had to demonstrate independent research ability and based on original field investigation. Unfortunately, only the latter have been archived in the Library of the Institute of Geography, University of Tartu.

3 An exception has been training geography teachers at Tallinn Pedagogical Institute (Tallinn University) in the 1950s and again since the mid-1990s now based on what is termed geo-ecology and co-ordinated by the Institute of Ecology; an unknown (small) number of Estonians active in geography graduated from other universities of the Soviet Union.

4 Nevertheless, the Estonian University of Life Sciences and the Institute of Economy should be mentioned as significant centres for geographical research. The Estonian Geographical Society at the Academy of Sciences (established in 1955) took on the task of co-ordinating work.

5 About the meaning of nature protection in national discourse, see, for instance, Lauristin, Vihalemm, Rosengren and Weibull (1997); and about geography as a natural/national field of research, see Kurs (2000) and (Peil 2005).

6 For instance, the geographers' publication list of the University of Tartu in 1989–1994 includes 185 newspaper articles (and over fifty in local journals); at the same time the scientific production had diminished to around twenty for all staff (based on the official publication list—Raagmaa 1995). The latter was partly dependent on economic difficulties in the transition period, closing of former publication channels and hardship in reaching international journals in the first years of independence.

7 For references see the PECSRL webpage at < www.pecsrl.org>, link conferences. My thanks to Professor Michael Jones for making these points about this connection.