The Exile Communities: A Surprising Gap in Civicness

Abstract

The major purpose of this book is to discover more about whether and how early socialized political culture affects individual processes of adjusting to institutional changes. The reason for focusing so strongly on the tiny Estonian community is, to repeat what I pointed out already in chapter one, that this group provides us better than most with the rare opportunity of a “natural experiment.” The Estonian interwar generation per se is not what primarily interests me here even though the fate of the Estonian nation is a fascinating story. What instead is of major interest is the way that their cultural reactions to life in exile (and under occupation) can inform the theoretical discussion about the interaction between institutions and culture.