Integrating Minorities in Times of Crisis: Issues of Displacement in the Estonian and Latvian Integration Programs

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, Estonia and Latvia have adopted Integration Programs aimed at dealing with issues concerning their large Russian-speaking minorities. In both cases, the meaning of “integration”—originally meant to primarily indicate the Russian speakers' route to becoming part of the Estonian and Latvian societies—was redefined to include a socioeconomic dimension. This article explores the intersection between the socioeconomic and ethnic dimensions of integration policies through the analysis of the Integration Programs and related documents and process tracing of the decision making behind them. Intertwined issues of maldistribution and misrecognition are analyzed through the two competing hypotheses of response and displacement. The analysis shows the central role of mechanisms of displacement in furthering the states' (and majority elites') ethnocentric and neoliberal agendas.