| title: | Trends of social life of indigenous populations on cultural frontiers: examples on Baltic and Black seas regions and Central America |
|---|---|
| reg no: | ETF6605 |
| project type: | Estonian Science Foundation research grant |
| subject: |
5.8. Human, Social and Economical Geography |
| status: | accepted |
| institution: | TU Faculty of Biology and Geography |
| head of project: | Ott Kurs |
| duration: | 01.01.2006 - 31.12.2009 |
| description: | The aim of current project is to continue and summarise the two earlier ones — about settlement and administrativno-political spaces of ethnic minorities and about border areas in the development of human society. In the new project the indigenous borderland ethnic minorities living in theirs homelands during long times will be examined. Often those populations were living there already before the establishing of present-day ruling nation, and they have genetic and linguistic relations with neighbouring nation. So they are situated on the edge of a cultural space. Often the identity and language of an indigenous ethnic minority are preserved due to recent immigration from the neighbouring nation, or genetic homeland. Ethnic groups on hermetical closed boundaries have not many possibilities for preservation theirs ethnicity because they cannot develop trans-boundary cooperation. I shall study settlement patterns of ethnic groups, and theirs social status not only in theirs ethnic homeland areas but also in frame of the whole nation, as well possibilities for development theirs own traditional culture and education. I also try indicate in what way these frontier ethnic groups contribute to cultural diversity because our modern world have both globalisation and regionalisation tendencies. Spatially the current project embraces Baltic Finnic, German, Turkic and Maya ethnic areas situated on cultural frontiers. Studies should be base on my own expeditions to different parts of Old World, especially Eurasia, and also on my published papers during 1990s and at the beginning of 2000s (s. O. Kurs’s list of research publications) and 2 monographs (Kurs 1998, Kurs 1999). I also use these experiences in my prospective studies on Mayas living in Central America, especially in Mexico and Guatemala. The main research methods are: examination of documents (literature and Internet portals in different languages), case studies in settlement areas, and comparative cartographic and statistical analyses. Research contacts with geographers and specialists in social sciences and humanities — in Finland (universities in Helsinki, Joensuu and Oulu), Sweden Rootsis (univ. Luleå), Germany (univ. Freiburg), France (univ. Metz), Spain (univ. Granada), Ukraine (Tauria univ., Crimean ethnographic museum), and Mexico Mehhikos (univ. Yucatán) — should help for succesfulness of research work. I hope to publish my theoretical and applied research issues during the years 2006—2009 as two monographs in Estonia and several abroad articles in different languages. I set the following hypotheses should be verifyed in this study: (1) indigenous ethnic minorities in the nations and states with a small religiousness and a large civic have the best conditions for activities; (2) indigenous ethnic minorities in the nations and states with a petrify constitution, or with a nostalgia after lost brightest period have not many possibilities for preserve and develop theirs identity; (3) for preserve and development of socio-economic and cultural peculiarities of an ethnic group is not obligatory territorial autonomy but cultural one in which frames can be organise social and cultural life in common local administrative units; (4) although the identity on an ethnic group devided from his mother nation with a boundary is not fully the same of this nation’s one, it is rational to use the literary language of mother nation as a cultural one than to develop a new literary language based on local dialect littered with linguistic expressions of ruling nation. Project's applied aim is a presentation of the Baltic Sea Regions — especially Finland's and Estonia's — experiences on cultural development of ethnic minorities to those living in cultural frontiers of Russia, Ukraine and France, and in Central America. That is why I must publish papers on projet’s applied aspects with local researchers, and not in 1-2 but in various languages. For realising of this project I need for the years 2006—2009 in all 360 000 EEK, thus 90 000 EEK per annum. Agenda is following: (1) foreign expeditions and cooperation with Prof R. Machado to Granada, Prof M. Cabouret to Metz, Prof J. Westerholm to Helsinki, Prof H. Sulkala to Oulu and Dr J. Laptev to Simferopol (40 000), complement of technical infrastrukture (30 000), for a monograph about ethnohistory of minorities (10 000), preparation of 3 articles in foregn languages (10 000 EEK) in 2006; (2) expedition to the Mayas and cooperation with Dr M. Güémez Pineda Yucatán university, Mérida (40 000), acquisition of new PC with programs (30 000), a monograph about ethnohistory of minorities (10 000), edition of new articles (10 000 EEK) in 2007; (3) expeditions to cultural frontiers of EU, Russia and Ukraine (40 000), improvement of technical inftrastructure (20 000), for a new monograph about indigenous ethnic minorities today (20 000), edition of articles (10 000 EEK) in 2008; (4) last expeditions to Yucatán and European cultural frontiers (40 000), a monograph about ethnic minorities on cultural frontiers (40 000), redation of last articles about this problem (10 000 EEK) in 2009. (1) Kurs, O. (1998). Etnilisi vähemusi ajas ja ruumis I. Summary: Ethnic minorities in time and space I. Õpetatud Eesti Seltsi Kirjad VI. Tartu. 278 lk/pp; (2) Kurs, O. (1999). Maailm, Euroopa ja Eesti. Poliitilisest geograafiast. Summary: The world, Europe and Estonia. On political geography. Publicationes Instituti Geographici Universitatis Tartuensis 86. Tartu. 88 lk/pp |
| project group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no | name | institution | position | |
| 1. | Ott Kurs | Tartu Ülikool | ||