Peer-reviewed articles have all been through a peer-review process. We practice double-blind peer-review. All material is reviewed by two independent specialists at least at post-doc level. A prerequisite for publishing scientific articles in Baltic Worlds is that the article has not already been published in English elsewhere. If an article is simultaneously being considered by another publication, this should be indicated when submitting.
The Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRYU) is an administered mass organization for youth in contemporary Belarus and has been supported by the Lukashenka government for decades. It is therefore well positioned to engage in international activities. What’s more, it claims to develop “multi-vector international youth collaboration” by participating in international programs and projects. This article aims to map and explain the international activities of the BRYU from the early 1990s until the present day. It asks how the association’s international activities look in practice and what explains these patterns. It finds there is a qualitative difference between the BRYU’s international activities with actors in Russia, the European Union and China. The article suggests that in comparison to the BRYU’s domestic activities, which have been the primary focus of previous research, the youth league’s participation in international affairs is limited. It argues that this state of affairs can be explained by its structural subservience to President Lukashenka, for whom the BRYU’s international activities are of secondary importance.
By
Kristiina Silvan
August 23, 2023
The paper aims to explore the practical application of “soft power” in “hybrid” countries. The analysis is based on the example of soft power-strategies developed and implemented by the Russian Federation in post-Soviet Central Asia throughout the last two decades. The overarching research questions of the paper are the following — what are the most interesting features of Russian soft power in the changing geopolitical conditions of the post-Soviet space? How does it address local youth to secure Russian domination in the region and ensure the sustainability of local political regimes? What is the future of Russian soft power and geopolitical influence in the region?
By
Oleg Antonov and Parviz Mullojonov
August 23, 2023
Using Heydemann’s concept ‘authoritarian upgrading’ as the theoretical point of departure, this article sheds light on the adaptation of the Azerbaijani authoritarian regime that is taking place in the political arena, civil society, media and information sector, and in relation to religious practices. It elaborates on how authoritarian upgrading is associated with the consolidation of the authoritarian regime and suggests that the core of these measures entails making authoritarian norms and values appear more attractive and acceptable. Notably, it illustrates the conscious attempts to engage the younger generation across multiple sectors in authoritarian upgrading making them both a target and a tool in this process.
By
Sofie Bedford
August 23, 2023
Referendums have been extensively analyzed from multiple perspectives and different studies have discussed their various features and types and how different actors use them. However, little attention has been paid to investigating the reasons why political elites (i.e., European presidents) initiate referendums. Thus, this article explores the intentions and aims by analyzing 18 referendums called by European presidents from 2000 to 2020. Secondary sources, such as media reporting, official documents, and scientific works, have been analyzed using a
comparative case study approach. The results indicate that presidents usually have strategic objectives when they call referendums, and that the initiation of a referendum is influenced by the anticipated short- or long-term effects that could result from the referendum.
By
Paul Tap
June 20, 2023
This article compares Swedish and German social work, including policy documents, and discusses the policies of these two countries regarding the implementation of children’s rights in social work practice. The analysis focuses on two main concepts that are used in social work practice: the concept of a child perspective in Sweden and the concept of participation in Germany. This study aims to investigate the ideas, values and guidelines mediated by political institutions to social workers in the field. The results showed that both the Swedish and German policy documents gave the distinct impression that the concepts had been properly implemented and formed part of child welfare practice. In the Swedish context, the idea of both making children visible and the formal aspects were highlighted, whereas in Germany, participation was related to an educational discourse. However, it is argued here that the discourses suggest that there is unequal relationship between children and adults, and we conclude that social workers must contribute to the child’s status as an active subject.
By
Sylwia Koziel and Ylva Spånberger Weitz
June 20, 2023
Social media and the Internet have experienced a rapid development to which the religious factor has not remained indifferent. Religion has found ways to adapt to the online environment. This new online context has been thoroughly analyzed in relation to Christian denominations such as Catholics, Protestants and Neo-Protestant groups, yet we do not know much about how Orthodoxy has adapted online. While a few studies emphasize the presence of Ortho-bloggers in the online environment, we know very little about how they organize their activity in terms of structure, content, and purpose. This study addresses this gap in the literature by proposing a new approach to Ortho-blogging research. It describes the types of Orthodox religious blogs found within the typology of noninstitutionalized Ortho-blogs in the context of the Orthodox sphere in Romania. Romania has a large Orthodox population, a very active church at societal and political level and a good Internet infrastructure. In the analysis, several types of the Ortho-blog are highlighted in relation to structure, content, and purpose. This study carries an empirical significance for the study of online religious actors in general and Orthodox Christian actors in particular.
By
Dragoș Șamșudean
December 9, 2022
This article investigates the ideas of correct and modern nutrition during the early communist period in Bulgaria and outlines their relationship to previously existing ideas and practices. The research reveals the multiple influences of pre-communist food ideologies, particularly those of the vegetarian movement that flourished in the country in the 1920s and 1930s. It questions the propaganda claim that the communist regime introduced a radically new understanding of and approach to nutrition. It also suggests that there were significant differences between the attitudes towards meatless diets in Eastern European communist countries. The hostility towards vegetarianism was not equally strong and consistent across the bloc, and despite the evident influence of Soviet teachings focused on meat-based, protein-rich diets, nutritionists introducedmeatless diet “through the back door”.
By
Albena Shkodrova
June 22, 2022
This article considers the spread of ideas on vegetarianism in Estonia from the turn of the 19th century until 1940. The study builds on analyzing archival sources, media texts and educational work conducted by nutrition experts, schools and organizations. Propaganda about the consumption of vegetarian food was associated with the general modernization of domestic culture and the discourse on healthy food as the basis for the nation’s vitality. The article highlights the leading role of women’s movement in home economics, including attempts to implement food culture informed by nutritional science, especially teaching the people to eat more fruits and vegetables. The spread of vegetarian ideas in Estonia also illustrates how the previously dominating German cultural influences were gradually replaced by an orientation towards the Nordic countries, and demonstrates how these ideas were adapted to an Estonian context.
By
Ester Bardone and Anu Kannike
June 22, 2022
In this article, I tackle and reflect on the vegetarian movement of the Russian empire in its making, branding, and imagining by examining the All-Russian Vegetarian Congress in Moscow in 1913. By scrutinizing its organization, agenda and resolutions, the study brings to the surface and explores the ideological imaginaries and the dynamics of vegetarian collective action. I discuss the organization and convening of the congress, analyze the discursive activity around it, as well as hint at its implications for the fledgling vegetarian activism. I also contextualize the event within a broad reform-oriented social movement space, as well as spotlight the diversity of understandings of vegetarianism. The case study hints at the manifestations of movement making and branding, as well as unfolds the ideological foundations that were given preferences and why this was so. The congress apparently favored the ethical strand of vegetarianism and aimed at life reform in a broader sense. However, it did not really succeed in bringing about the long-awaited consolidation and unification of the vegetarians in the country.
By
Julia Malitska
June 22, 2022
This text gives a glimpse of a hitherto unknown design discourse during the Cold War – from both sides of the Iron Curtain – by exploring the 1975 Congress of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), held in Moscow. Sweden sent a big delegation to Russia. More than forty of the small country’s top designers and influencers participated, which was more than twice as many as usual to these international design congresses. Thanks to reactions published about the events in journals on design in Sweden and in the Soviet Union, archival material, and the author’s own interviews with the delegates from Sweden who participated in Moscow, as well as one-off exclusive backstage witnesses from the local staff of the host organization during the ongoing congress, Moscow 1975 is experienced through the eyes of contemporary witnesses. The essay gives new insights into the world congress in design and illustrates the international atmosphere during the Cold War.
By
Margareta Tillberg
June 22, 2022
Issue 2024, 3: 
Baltic Worlds covers; the Baltic Sea Region, Eastern Europe, Russia, CentralAsia, Caucasus and the Balkan area.