Spaces of ‘national indifference’ in biographical research on citizens of the Baltic republics 1918–1940

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn her influential article, Tara Zahra works to develop a new style of historical analysis that functions without presupposed national or other identities. However, it is difficult to integrate her concept of ‘national indifference’ into a practical program of research. The present article argues that this can be achieved by a broader usage of the term. First, instead of excluding national and ethnic affiliations from research altogether, it stresses what functions they fulfill in individual lives. Second, it argues that nationality has a meaning in some contexts, while it is unimportant in others. Therefore, the concept ‘spaces of national indifference’ is developed. This concept is exemplified by discussing the biography of the Baltic German banker Klaus Scheel in interwar Estonia.