Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between interethnic contact and ethnic identity trajectories through an investigation of the Russian population in Latvia. Three possible outcomes are considered: assimilation, integration, and separation. The first indicates a cultural and political merger of two ethnic groups, the second indicates a political merger only, and the third denotes neither.
A curious result emerges: in a large-n survey conducted last year by the Baltic Institute of Social Sciences, there was no relationship between interethnic contact and a propensity to assimilate. There was, however, a strong relationship between contact and integration. Surprisingly, the exact opposite result emerged in a much smaller, but more detailed, network survey of respondents I worked with earlier this year: That is, there was a strong relationship between contact and propensity to assimilate, but no relationship between contact and integration.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper examines the role media played in the Latvian independence movement from 1986 to 1991. The Latvians—along with their neighbors the Estonians and Lithuanians—led what Mikhail Gorbachev called the “parade of sovereignties” and played an instrumental role in the collapse of the USSR while striving for their own freedom. The most striking characteristic of Latvia’s independence movement is its steady use of nonviolent action. Media were at the center of the strategy and tactics of the liberation effort. This paper explores the relationship between media, nonviolence and the successful conclusion of the movement to reclaim Latvian statehood.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study explores the status of public relations in post-communist Latvia. The study reviews: whether public relations practitioners in Latvia practice J. Grunig and Hunt’s (1984) press agentry, public information, two-way asymmetrical, and two-way symmetrical models of public relations; how former communist propaganda has affected contemporary public relations; and how public relations has contributed to political and economic transformation.

Long-interviews were conducted with ten Latvian public relations practitioners. The findings revealed that the four models of public relations were practiced in Latvia. Communist propaganda affected contemporary public relations. The field of public relations contributed to the political and economic transformation.

This study adds a Latvian perspective to the global theory of public relations. The study also provides practical implications for public relations practitioners by describing the ways political and economic contexts influence the practice of public relations in Latvia.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: One third of Estonians and
Latvians voted against their countries’ membership in the European
Union (EU) in the referenda held in the fall of 2003, more than in any
other East European candidate country. What explains the strong
opposition to the EU in the two Baltic nations that used to pride
themselves on being the “Soviet West” and have pursued close
integration with Western Europe since the restoration of independence?
Analysts have attributed Baltic euroskepticism to nationalism,
authoritarian and conservative values, and the fear that the EU will
corrupt their liberal economic systems. I will argue, however, that the
vote against the EU was an expression of social protest against liberal
economic reforms and elitist political systems. I will show that
negative and ambivalent attitudes about the EU in Estonia and Latvia
were the strongest among the losers of transition (the elderly, the
rural folk, the poor, the uneducated, the non-entrepreneurial) and
among people who mistrust political institutions. I will argue that
these groups are skeptical of the EU because they fear that EU
accession will impose further economic costs on them and because they
see the EU as a project of self-interested liberal-conservative elites.
I will also argue that the high level of political and economic
discontent in Estonia and Latvia has an objective basis. The Baltics
have experienced much greater declines in output, employment and income
(particularly in agriculture) and much larger increases in inequality
than Central Europe. Estonia and Latvia (but not Lithuania) also stand
out among the candidate countries in that they have very weak elements
of direct democracy (referenda, initiatives) and have been governed by
parties of the right ever since the collapse of Communism.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The paper examines the framing of the Russian minorities issue by the Estonian and Latvian officials during the European Union 2004 enlargement process. It looks at the impacts the framing had on the negotiations regarding the Copenhagen criteria, more particularly in regard to the protection of minorities, during that period as well as the unintended constraining effects it created for the European Union (EU) to deal with the issue after accession. The paper argues that the ability of the two candidate countries to strategically frame the Russian issue as an immigration issue rather than an issue of protection of minorities during the negotiations gave them leverage in shaping EU conditionality to their interests. More precisely, this paper is looking at the influence candidate countries can have on the EU during the negotiations despite their weak position. The strategies employed by the two countries to achieve this will be reviewed in the paper through a process-tracing method. Furthermore, interviews have been conducted with public officials in EU institutions, in Estonia and in Latvia. The Annual Progress Reports made by the European Commission during the years prior to accession will be used to determine what the EU’s interests were in regard to the Russian population, as well as the policy outcomes taking place in both candidate countries.