Nationalism, Identity Entrepreneurship and European Integration in Estonia

This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of post-communist nationalism, nation branding and European integration by focusing on the case of Estonia. This paper analyses the role of identity entrepreneurship (Brubaker and Cooper 2000) and a variety of historical, civilisational and economic narratives in Estonia’s nation branding (Jansen 2008), specifically in the context of attempts to redefine Estonian national identity to promote acceptance of European integration both domestically and among international partners. By studying both elite and popular discourses in Estonia, it explores the importance of history, economic factors, geography and external reference points (or ‘others’), such as Scandinavia, Germany, the other Baltic States and Russia, to emerging understandings of Estonian identity. The paper explores the ways in which Estonian nationalism and European integration are sometimes in tension yet also mutually reinforcing.