Essays are selected scholarly articles published without prior peer-review process.
Views of the past are constantly being revised, with the impact of different political and social occurrences generating new narratives and ways of interpreting history. This essay focuses on three cases of recent spatial reconfiguration in Estonia, all demonstrating how contrasting memoryscapes are perceived, especially after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, the Soviet memorials, symbols and murals in public space in Estonia have fallen under intense scrutiny as remnants and symbols of the Soviet regime. Russian aggression towards Ukraine seemed to reopen the wound of the most recent trauma. At the same time, the legacies of more remote oppressors, the Baltic Germans, has taken on a new meaning as a more neutral and even positive heritage. With three examples of spatial transformation, the essay examines the choices made on treating the layers of Estonian history and raises questions about how current decisions could shape our perception in the future.
Essay by
Triin Reidla and Anu Soojärv
December 18, 2025
This essay traces the development of Latvian nationalism from its emergence in the 19th century to the present, particularly examining how the relationship between the individual and the nation has been interpreted. By relying on the ideas of Johann Gottlieb Fichte and his idealization of authentic cultures, this essay examines his influences on the invention of authentic Latvian culture (and people) in the 19th century, as well as the afterlives of Fichte’s ideas during the Ulmanis regime, the independence struggle in the 1980s, and finally, in the contemporary, liberal era. The essay argues that the unfavorable comparison to their idealized, “authentic” selves has contributed to a discourse in which people are expected to engage in a personal and inherently intimate relationship with their nation. I argue that these principles produce an anti-populist nationalism that distinguishes Latvian nationalism from its European counterparts.
Essay by
Gustav Lundberg
December 18, 2025
The article examines the role of Euroscepticism in the construction of an illiberal hegemonic regime by the Hungarian government, and its operationalization by right wing public intellectuals in their professional and subjective geopolitical analyses. Building on Alexei Yurchak’s concept of hypernormalisation, it argues that Hungarian Eurosceptic narratives have become part of a formalized authoritative discourse that provides a guiding framework for the regime’s intellectuals to voice their opinion about global politics and contemporary history, while leaving space for a set of diverse and often contradictory meanings to emerge in relation to Europe and the European Union.
Essay by
Anna Balazs
December 18, 2025
This essay, based on broader research on independent radio stations from Kyiv, Gasoline Radio and 20ft Radio, and an independent label, Shukai, looks at how these sound media can engage with cultural history and offer different ways to think about archiving. Through applying Diana Taylor’s use of repertoire to three specific sound examples (a radio show, an installation, and a record), I argue that these alternative sound media formats allow an open and dynamic reading of cultural works of the past. The role practitioners seem to take up is to look for and fill gaps they see in mainstream public discourse in relation to Ukrainian music, culture, and sound media history. Listening for the missing knowledge from the past allows the audience to attune it with imaginations of the future.
Essay by
Ieva Gudaitytė
October 23, 2025
President Trump wants to build 40 new icebreakers to conquer the ice around Greenland, according to the news, May 2025. Interestingly, Finland might play a part in the production of these ships.1 There is a deep historical dimension here and in this essay I return to a time before the icebreaker, that is, before the 1850s, and look into how we related to ice and snow then. It turns out that in the centuries preceding the late 19th century, people in Sweden had an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards ice and snow. In fact, these elements were crucial for the whole Swedish society. Today it is the opposite, as the icebreaker illustrates. I argue that between these two historical temporalities lies the climate shift, which has an ontological dimension to it.
Essay by
Johan Hegardt
September 23, 2025
This essay analyzes the transformation of the Belarusian political community following the 2020 protests through an examination of eight articles published within the Fifth Republic project. The analysis identifies four dominant narratives: repression as a catalyst for political action, the legitimacy crisis as a political opportunity, the role of diaspora and political exiles as new political actors, and "Caring Democracy" as an alternative political model. Each narrative demonstrates distinct mobilization potentials and limitations. The study reveals that while the Belarusian political community exists in a fragmented state—resembling a "shattered mirror"—it maintains remarkable resilience through adaptive practices of solidarity. The research suggests that integrating these diverse narratives could provide a framework for overcoming current political fragmentation while recognizing the value of multiple voices and experiences within the democratic movement.
Essay by
Marina Sokolova
September 23, 2025
The article is devoted to how Uzbekistan’s constructivist foreign policy contributed to fundamental changes in the Central Asian region. The main purpose of the article is to examine the transition from realpolitik to a constructivist approach in Uzbekistan, as well as in Central Asia in general. The author seeks to outline potential scenarios for future developments in the changing political landscape in the region. In the work, he reveals the significance of the school of constructivism, comparing it with other theories of international relations. According to him, this theory is the most suitable for explaining the current political status quo in the region. The key concepts in the article are identity, perception, ideology, culture and national interest.
Essay by
Islomhkon Gafarov
August 26, 2025
The article examines the deliberate process of depoliticizing contemporary art in Russia. The repressive laws introduced also target art, especially certain themes, and there is heightened censorship: furthermore, law enforcement exerts direct pressure on individual art institutions and artists. Simultaneously, the state is implementing large-scale programs to support (state-approved) contemporary art: constructing new museums, organizing street art competitions, and supporting the art market. At times, the authorities employ a form of “agenda hijacking,” adopting globally relevant themes in the art world, such as decolonization. For the average citizen, an illusion of a vibrant contemporary art scene is created. Meanwhile, over the two years of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the ideological component of art, built on propaganda or stylistic canons, has not become central.
Essay by
Olga Alter
April 16, 2025
The societies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Kosovo utilize dark (war) tourism to preserve and visualize memories of the 1990s conflicts and war crimes against civilians. Both countriesnhave developed numerous sites, mapped them, and integrated them into excursions and tourist programs. In BiH, dark tourism reflects collective trauma and a need to share experiences with others. Kosovan Albanians focus on reflecting upon the war and its consequences while constructing narratives about national history. A shared issue in both BiH and Kosovo is the dominance of a single perspective on the events of the 1990s, with Bosniaks and Kosovan Albanians promoting their versions of history while excluding the perspectives of other ethnic groups.
Essay by
Kateryna Shymkevych
April 16, 2025
The process of decolonization in Ukrainian cities is significant because of the remaining socialist heritage. This includes architecture, urban planning structures, toponyms, and symbolic spaces. While this heritage is deeply implemented in the contemporary cityscape, it has also become the subject of criticism, particularly after the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014. Socialist cities such as Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kryvyi Rig played a prominent role in shaping the urban landscape and were conceptualized by Soviet urbanists in the 1920s and 1930s. These cities were designed to gain complete control over the social and professional aspects of residents’ lives, reflecting the ideological ambitions of the communist party. This article explores the importance of socialist cities in the context of colonial heritage, examining the origins of the idea and its ideological significance.
Essay by
Anastasiia Bozhenko and Olesya Chagovets
December 10, 2024
Issue 2025, 4: 
Baltic Worlds covers; the Baltic Sea Region, Eastern Europe, Russia, CentralAsia, Caucasus and the Balkan area.