K. B. Usha (Eds.), Nation Building in Baltic States: History, Memory and Identity. New Delhi: Adroit Publications, 2018, pp. 236, ₹658 (hardcover).
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/09735984231170050 |
| Author | Pramod Kumar |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Jadavpur Journal of
International Relations
27(1) 128 –132, 2023
© 2023 Jadavpur University
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DOI: 10.1177/09735984231170050
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Book Review
K. B. Usha (Eds.), Nation Building in Baltic States:
History, Memory and Identity. New Delhi: Adroit
Publications, 2018, pp. 236, ₹658 (hardcover).
Homogenization—be it in religion, language, and culture—is vital and
central in nation-building exercise. In the period of post-French
revolution, France implemented homogenization policies across the
country in order to build French-language-based national identity in
France. Policies of homogenization in France significantly included
compulsory learning of French language and mass education to create
single national identity. The same trend can be found in nation-building
exercise in post-unification Italy. Both countries—at the time of French
revolution and Italy unification respectively—constituted a diverse
population with different language and dialects. People speaking
different language and dialects were perceived as a threat to the national
unity and nation-building process. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are
called the Baltic States. They adopted almost the same path that France
and Italy adopted to build national identity by homogenizing the
dominant language and culture based on their history and memory.
The book titled Nation Building in Baltic States History, Memory and
Identity is an edited work of K. B. Usha. It attempts to cover a range of
areas, such as historical experience of Baltic States, Singing revolution
led the independence movement, social and democratic transition,
language and minority issue, and Baltic States’ perception on the
European Union (EU) and Russia. The central theme of this work is that
nation-building and democratic transition of all three countries,
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, of Baltic States are based on three core
elements, such as history, memory, and identity. The book starts with an
introductory chapter where concepts like nation-building, memory
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