Estonia

Post-Soviet Networks

Even within the Soviet system, kinship and friendship networks were strongly emphasized. The system used barter, gift exchange, and bribery to establish reciprocity in a world of scarcity. During a downturn in the 1970s, urban Estonians relied on their families who were still farming to provide fruits and vegetables and other produce in return for manufactured goods or other exchange.

Estonia had a tendency early in the post-Soviet era to develop informal networks with their own rules and advantageous position. These networks absorbed resources, leaving the lesser networks helpless to benefit members even when they wanted to.

Workplace networks in the Soviet era not only provided employment and income but also had social purposes. Postindependence restructuring destroyed workplaces and promoted mobility, often involuntary, as the economy privatized. The informal networks—the personal networks situated in the workplace—disappeared, replaced by uncertainty and mistrust, even among those who remained in their jobs and in the formal networks. Networks had to reform, which took time, and the new networks were often based on wealth. Privatization and land reform created landlord–tenant tensions between ethnicities.

Networks from the socialist era for acquiring essential goods and services in a shortage society remained, but at the acquaintance level. These networks were fluid, with annoying members removed as the remaining members preserved their mutual trust and obligation. [Page 270]These networks, based on friendship rather than merit, excluded large numbers and helped to discourage social mobility.

Political networks weakened in post-Soviet Estonia. During the Singing Revolution, different groups were actively involved. In the late 1990s, in contrast, while ethnic and nonethnic Estonians recognized the extent of social problems, only a few were willing to get involved. The time was characterized by serious economic problems that may have forced attention onto family needs. However, it is equally possible that the stabilization of society and reestablishment of clear governmental responsibility for policy (and disinterest in public input) resulted in only 3 percent investing in political networks, 12 percent wanting but not doing so, and 85 percent out of politics (this contrasted with the 72 percent of ethnic and 46 percent of nonethnic Estonians who signed petitions of one sort or another in 1988–91). Only 6 to 7 percent of the population in 1998 bothered to express an opinion to the media or local government.

The postindependence decline in political activity was matched by a decline in involvement in voluntary organizations and associations, which had been so important during the 1980s. In 1998, 85 percent of ethnic and 92 percent of nonethnic Estonians were uninvolved in clubs, societies, or organizations. Trade union and political party membership fell as well.

As networks declined, so did social trust. There was a low perception of the parliament and government in 2000, which indicated general distrust of elites. Similarly, the ethnic and nonethnic tradition of mistrust reintensified compared to the early 1990s.

...