Blog 1: Latvia's National Identity and it's relationship with the 'Other'

National Identity and the 'Other'

Latvia has a distinguished national identity, and while it can be claimed to be alike other bordering countries, it is unique largely in the relationship it has with other countries and how it treats its minority groups. There is a blend of many cultures coming together inside of Latvia due to past relationships it has had with other countries, creating a unique "melting pot" culture, which is largely due to it being in the centre of many countries geographically. 

What is National Identity?

According to IGI Global, national identity is a common or shared culture, understanding of the past, and a common aspiration for the future that bind a group of people together and fosters a sense of belonging for a nation. National identity for an individual can also be defined as that person's sense of belonging to one's state or to one's nation. "It is the sense of a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language" (WINI). 

Latvia's National Identity

Latvia is an ethnically diverse country that is located in the Baltic region of northwestern Europe. The shaping of Latvia's national identity is largely a result of the country's past occupation by the Soviet Union during the 20th Century. Authors Bērzina and Zupa have studied how Latvia's diversity may impact how willing ethnic and non-ethnic citizens would be to fight for Latvia during a time of need. Comprehensive National Defense, or CND, refers to the readiness and willingness of the citizens of a particular country to fight for their country. "CND decreases internal vulnerabilities and increases the cost for a potential aggressor... thus reducing the likelihood of an attack" (Bērzina). However, for the national defense to be effective, citizens of the country must be "mobilized for national defense". CND relies heavily on the willingness of the inhabitants of the country to resist an aggressor (Bērzina). Researchers Bērzinga and Zupa assumed that more ethnically diverse countries may be less willing to participate in CND, whereas countries that are more similar could be more willing to defend their country from attackers; these assumptions are based on the concepts of social cohesion and polarization. The Soviet Occupation of the 20th Century in Latvia and other surrounding countries allowed for an influx of other ethnic groups to move to Latvia. When Latvia gained its independence in the 1990s, the arrivals of other ethnic groups during occupation became viewed as 'newly' minority ethnic groups, "[creating] a complicated context for Latvia's ethnopolitics and identity formation for ethnic minorities" (Bērzinga). In a 1994 article, writer Andrew Stuttaford says that much of the current ethnic Russian population in Latvia is due to deliberate importation from Moscow that "saw mass immigration as a way of breaking the Latvian nation." According to authors Bērzinga and Zupa, Latvian society can be defined by ethnicity and language used at home. Ethnic Latvians make up just over half of the population of the country, with other ethnic minorities such as ethnic Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Poles making up largely the other ethnicity percentage; most of these minorities speaking Russian at home. According to 2011 census data, around 37% of the population speaks Russian at home, 62% speaking Latvian. The language percentages shown "rather accurately denotes the divide between the core nation and ethnic minorities in Russia" (Bērzinga). 

    "As ‘Russia’s aggressive foreign policy’ (Ministry of Defense,             2018) is one of the primary reasons which determines the need for      CND in Latvia, the call for the whole society to unite for the                 defense of the state raises such long-term identity issues for                 Latvia’s ethnic minorities as relations with the state of Latvia;             inter-ethnic relations within Latvia; and belonging to Russia"                 (Bērzinga). 

For many countries, the willingness to fight for one's country can be boosted positively if there is a strong sense of national pride, confidence in government and in the armed forces (Bērzinga). The case study, which assessed the willingness to fight for one's country - focusing on Latvian and Russian speakers, found that both language speaking groups would be willing to fight for Latvia although there was a 'more pronounced' sense of willingness from those who took the interviews in Latvian. One of the main differences in responses was when those who took the interview in Russian were asked if they would be willing to fight for Latvia if the oppressor was Russia. The responses of Russian speaking participants suggested that many would not want to fight, neither wanting to fight against Latvia. Author Andrew Stuttaford says that despite losing a large part of the Latvian national identity during the Soviet Occupation, "Latvians must find their identity without alienating the Russian minority."
Latvia and 'The Other'

Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union during the 20th century. Because of this, Latvia appears to have a strong need to distinguish itself from modern-day Russia. The goal of Soviet Occupation was to undermine the national and cultural identity of independent Latvia. The reclaiming of Latvian culture has been very important for Latvia, especially since gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. This would be most clearly demonstrated in the use of the Latvian language post-occupation. In some academic environments, Latvian is the required language in classrooms. Ethnic Russians living in Latvia have expressed their issues with these policies. There have been protests about the use of Latvian language usage in classrooms by ethnic minority groups, but as far as I have researched, no changes have been made in schools because of these protests. However, Russian is still widely spoken, and is the second most used language in Latvia due to the large population of ethnic Russians. While just having escaped from occupation in 1990, Latvia declared Latvian to be its sole official language. During the first few years post-occupation, bilingualism was rejected, and the use of Latvian in educational spaces was encouraged. However, Russian language education is still readily available, "Russian television continues to broadcast, and Russian newspapers circulate freely" (Stuttaford). The Russian language was a compulsory subject in schools during the Soviet occupation, and during the "second half of the 19th and 20th centuries, the educated segments of the population became fluent in Russian" (WINI). There have been many cases of Russian and Latvian marriages, which would "suggest that [the two ethnic groups] can live together in peace" (Stuttaford), although the history of both countries in relation can make 'living together in peace' a bit more difficult in many cases. While Latvia was under Soviet rule in the 1900s, the occupied country's citizens were at risk of execution and deportation, which created what appears to be a country-wide trauma of the Soviet Union, which has damaged Latvia's relationship with the past occupying country. According to EveryCulture.com, the Soviet occupation led to the loss of 250,000 Latvians through both exile and death, and the current population of ethnic Latvians today makes up only 56% of what the population was pre-Soviet occupation. The damaged relationship is most clearly seen today in the way that Latvia treats the ethnic Russian minority inside of the country, as well as the lack of care they seem to display when handling incidents - both legal and illegal, with modern-day Russia. Because of such awful treatment of Latvians during the Russian occupation, many Latvians believe that they "need to build [their] spiritual gene pool in particular for [the] people... who returned and did not break"(Latvia) in reference to the deportations and killings of Latvians during occupation. While Russia/the Soviet Union was viewed as a threat to Latvia as both a country and its culture within the past century, Latvia's treatment of the ethnic Russian population could suggest that it is still seen as a threat, therefore establishing it as an other. 

References 

Latvia. Countries and Their Cultures. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2023, from https://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Latvia.html

Latvia: Exploring Latvian culture | AFS-USA. AFS International Programs USA. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://www.afsusa.org/countries/latvia/ 

What is National Identity. IGI Global. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2023, from https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/national-identity/43883

Bērzinga, I., & Zupa, U. (2021). Factors affecting willingness to fight for a country in the Latvian and Russian-speaking communities in Latvia. Retrieved February 1, 2023, from https://web-s-ebscohost-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/command/detail?vid=6&sid=b45acb86-67ba-484a-8cc9-d9da504cb466%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=150638103&db=a9h.

Stuttaford, A. (1994). A Question of Identity. National Review, 46(11), 50–51.

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