Social Risks and Challenges of the Post-Socialist Transition Period in Estonia: Analysis of Biographical Narratives

Marina Grishakova; Kazjulja Margarita

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.4.2.05

Authors

Marina Grishakova Tartu University
Kazjulja Margarita Tallinn University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.4.2.05

Keywords:

Post-Socialist Transition, Generation of Winners, Social Risks, Biographical Narratives, Discourse Analysis

Abstract

In research on social risks and insecurity qualitative methods have obvious advantages and successfully complement statistical quantitative approaches, which have been practiced for decades. This study is based on the thirty-two in-depth interviews collected in the period June 2003 to January 2004 for the project “Life Plans and Life Paths in the Post-Socialist Estonia.” The interviewees are representatives of the so-called “generation of winners”, i.e. the people aged 20 or 30 years at the beginning of the period of post-socialist reforms. The paper examines representations of social risks and challenges of the transition period in the biographical interviews as well as discursive patterns and strategies that interviewees use to produce relatively coherent biographical narratives

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Marina Grishakova, Tartu University

Marina Grishakova is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Cultural Research and Fine Arts at the University of Tartu (Estonia). She has published widely in the areas of narratology and semiotics. Her research interests currently focus on cognitive narratology, discourse analysis and transmedial storytelling. She is the leader of the project „The Semiotics of Narrative and Interdisciplinary Analysis of Culture” (Estonian Science Foundation) and coordinator of the Nordic Network of Narrative Studies.

Kazjulja Margarita, Tallinn University

Margarita Kazjulja is a researcher at Institute for International and Social Studies, Tallinn University, Estonia. She is also a doctoral student in Tallinn University. Her areas of research are the stratification, education, labour market and social network.

References

Alasuutari, Pertti (1998) “The Discursive Construction of Personality.” Pp. 1-20 in The Narrative Study of Lives, edited by Ruthellen Josselson, Amia Lieblich. Vol. 5. London – New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
Google Scholar

Antaki, Charles (1984) Explaining and Arguing. The Social Organization of Accounts. London – New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
Google Scholar

Antaki, Charles and Widdicombe, Sue (1998) “Identity as an Achievement and as a Tool.” Pp. 1-14 in Identities in Talk, edited by Charles Antaki and Sue Widdicombe. London – New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446216958.n1

Brockmeier, Jens (1995) “The language of human temporality: Narrative schemes and cultural meanings of time.” Mind, Culture, and Activity 2(2):102-118.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039509524692

Clarke, Simon (2000) “The Closure of the Russian Labor Market.” European Societies 2:483-504.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/713766999

Corsaro, William A. (1985) “Sociological Approaches to Discourse Analysis.” Pp. 167-192 in Handbook of Discourse Analysis, edited by Teun A. van Dijk. Vol. 1. London, Orlando: Academic Press.
Google Scholar

Estonian Human Development Report (1997) Tallinn: UNDP
Google Scholar

Fairclough, Norman (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London: Pearson Education.
Google Scholar

Fairclough, Norman (2001) Language and Power. 2nd edition. London: Pearson Education.
Google Scholar

Fairclough, Norman (2003) Analysing Discourse. Textual Analysis for Social Research. London and New York: Routledge.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203697078

Goffman, Erving (1967) Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. New York: Pantheon.
Google Scholar

Goffman, Erving (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books.
Google Scholar

Goffman, Erving (1971) Relations in Public: Microstudies of the Public Order. New York: Basic Books.
Google Scholar

Gülich Elisabeth and Quasthoff Uta M. (1985) “Narrative Analysis.” Pp. 169-197 in Handbook of Discourse Analysis, edited by Teun van Dijk. Vol. 2. London: Academic Press.
Google Scholar

Heinrich, Georges (2003) “More is Not Necessarily Better: An Empirical Analysis of the Inequality-Growth Trade-off Using the Luxembourg Income Study.” Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper No. 344.
Google Scholar

Helemäe, Jelena; Saar, Ellu and Rein, Vöörmann (2000) Kas haridusse tasus investeerida (Returns to Education). Tallinn: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus.
Google Scholar

Household Living Niveau 2004. (2005). Tallinn: Statistical Office of Estonia.
Google Scholar

Kazjulja, Margarita (2002) “Kuidas saada hea töö: sidemete olulisus sajandilõpu tööturul.” Pp. 108-126 in Trepist alla ja üles: edukad ja ebaedukad postsotsialistlikus Eestis, edited by Ellu Saar. Tallinn: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus.
Google Scholar

Kutsar, Dagmar (1995) “Transformation in Estonia as Reflected in Families: Insight into Social Stress and Poverty.” Dissertationes Psychologicae Universitatis Tartuensis, 2. Tartu: Tartu University Press.
Google Scholar

Labour Force 2004 (2005) Tallinn: Statistical Office of Estonia.
Google Scholar

Prince, Gerald (2003) A Dictionary of Narratology. Revised Edition. Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press.
Google Scholar

Ricoeur, Paul (1984) Time and Narrative, vol. I-III. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Google Scholar

Riessman, Catherine Kohler (2002) “Analysis of Personal Narratives.” Pp. 695-710 in Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method, edited by Jaber F. Gubrium and James A. Holstein. London-New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412973588.n40

Róna-Tas, Ákos (1998) “Path Dependence and Capital Theory: Sociology of the Post-Communist Economic Transformation.” East European Politics and Societies 12:107-123.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325498012001005

Rosenthal, Gabriele (1993) “Reconstruction of Life Stories: Principles of Selection in Generating Stories for Narrative Biographical Interviews.” Pp. 59-91 in The Narrative Study of Lives, edited by Ruthellen Josselson, Amia Lieblich. Vol. 1. London – New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
Google Scholar

Terk, Erik and Annika, Tallo (1998) “The Generations in Estonia’s Transition Period.” Estonian Human Development Report. Tallinn.
Google Scholar

Titma, Mikk; Tuma, Nancy B. and Brian D. Silver (1998) “Winners and Losers in the Postcommunist Transition: New Evidence from Estonia.” Post-Soviet Affairs, 14:114-135.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.1998.10641449

Trumm, Avo (2005) “Poverty in Estonia: Overview of main trends and patterns of poverty in the years 1996-2002.” Fafo report 497.
Google Scholar

Van Dijk, Teun A. (1985) “Semantic Discourse Analysis.” Pp. 103-136 in Handbook of Discourse Analysis, edited by T.A. van Dijk. London; Orlando : Academic Press.
Google Scholar

Van Dijk, Teun A. (1998) Ideology. A Multidisciplinary Approach. London: SAGE Publications.
Google Scholar

Van Dijk, Teun A. (2001) “Critical Discourse Analysis.” Pp. 352-371 in The Handbook of Discourse Analysis, edited by D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen and H. E. Hamilton. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Google Scholar

Van Dijk, Teun A. (2005) “Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis.” Pp. 249-283 in Discourse Theory and Practice, edited by M. Wetherell, S. Taylor and S. J. Yates. London: SAGE Publications.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006

Van Leeuwen, Theo (2003) “The Representation of Social Actors.” PP. 32-70 in: Carmen Rosa Caldas-Coulthard, Malcolm Coulthard. Texts and Practices. Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis. London and New York: Routledge.
Google Scholar

Wengraf, Tom (2002) Qualitative Research Interviewing. Biographic Narrative and Semi-Structured Methods. London: SAGE Publications.
Google Scholar

World Bank (1996) The World Bank Development Report. From Plan to Market. New York: Oxford University Press.
Google Scholar

World Bank (2002) Transition. The First Ten Years. Analysis and Lessons for Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Washington.
Google Scholar

Zinn, Jens O. (2005) “The biographical approach: A better way to understand behavior in health and illness.” Health, Risks & Society, 7(1):1-9.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13698570500042348