ABSTRACT
The number of geographers in Estonia who can be grouped under the broad heading of social or cultural geography is so small that a paper discussing their work might include them all individually on a few pages. This does not mean that significant contributions to the field are lacking but rather that the institutional and academic frame is incomplete and labelling the various work difficult. In the re-independence years, several papers examining the various aspects of geography have appeared (Kurs 1997, 1999, 2000; Mander and Oja 2004; Marksoo 1994; Raukas and Paatsi 2000; Tammiksaar 1996). The primary task of these authors has been to survey the history of geography in Estonia avoiding ideological bias and to stress the continuity of research fields throughout the twentieth century. Defining geography in a national context is also obvious in many of these writings. They have mainly been written in Estonian targeting a home audience; the two papers in international journals (Kull 1990; Raitviir 1986) do not include recent developments for the obvious reason of their publication date. The articles have mainly been descriptive reports without attempts to analyse the content and approaches in the context of international research or social theory. Exceptions are Jussi Jauhiainen’s discussions of the developments and future trends in Estonian human geography (2000a, 2000b; in Estonian) and of the aspects of publishing and conducting critical research in a small country context (2004).
