ABSTRACT
The post-socialist transition in Estonia is often viewed as a particular case among Central and East European countries. Specifically, the economic reforms in Estonia have been most radical, particularly with regard to highly liberal transformation policies, sometimes highlighted as the key component of the success of the Estonian case. Moreover, societal changes mixed with political aspirations and radical reforms enjoyed high legitimacy, largely due to the still-perceived “Russian threat” and narratives about the first period of independence (1918–1940) as the “good old days” (Vihalemm and Kalmus, 2009), enabling the presentation of the transition as a “return to Europe” or even as a “return to normality” (Helemäe and Saar, 2011). However, Lauristin and Vihalemm (2009) emphasize that the economy-centered transition culture has taken the perspectives of the most successful social actors and framed these as self-evident aims for the whole society, thus legitimizing the political approaches that prioritize the economic dimensions of the reform and devalue their social implications. Closely related to the economy-dominated paradigm, technological change has also been a crucial component of Estonian transition. “Internetization” has become one of the central symbols of the rapidly changing society, leading to a widely held perception of Estonia as a leading e-state (Runnel et al., 2009).
