Abstract
This article offers an overview of the development of social and oral history in Estonia since the regaining of independence, in 1991. It is argued that the evolution of these fields of study has been influenced by three main factors: the Socialist past, the smallness of the country, and the fact that Estonia was for a long time an agrarian society. In addition to these factors, these fields have been shaped by the political transition to democracy and the massive institutional changes that took place in the Estonian society. Overall, research on social history faced a certain quantitative decline in early 1990s, in favor of new topics covering the “blank spots” of historical research, which had been declared taboo under the Soviet rule. At the same time, however, intense scholarly interaction and exchange with international historiographical trends has improved the quality of history research in Estonia. Oral history, especially life story research, conducted in an interdisciplinary manner, has undergone a rapid development, and is thus illustrative of the major changes that have occurred in the recent Estonian historiography.
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