Airi-Alina Allaste

Recreational Drug Use in Estonia: The Context of Club Culture

Youth subcultures, the use of illicit drugs, and the relationship between the two were thoroughly influenced by the opening of Estonia to international influences in the 1990s. Survey data point at a recent growth in the use of illicit drugs among Estonian teenagers. Relying on participant observation and a number of in-depth individual and group interviews in 1997–2000, the article describes the “club” or “rave” culture in the Estonian capital. Consumption of illicit drugs belongs to that youth subculture as an integrated part. However, its norms also set clear limits for drug consumption patterns. The inner circle of the clubbers stresses the importance of internal control and the autonomy of the individual. While the use of drugs is accepted, addiction is condemned. This allows us to make a division between recreational and marginalized consumers, the latter being considered deviant not only by the dominant culture, but by the youth subculture itself.

The meaning and use of drinking terms: Contrasts and commonalities across four European countries

This article explores the complex relationships that exist between the consumption of alcohol, the terminology used to describe consumption patterns and their effects, and the various frames of meaning through which these inherently related activities are perceived and understood. A particular focus is on the cultural meaning ascribed to terms and expressions commonly associated with alcohol consumption in different national contexts, something that has implications for an increasingly integrated EU survey approach. Data were collected by way of 12 focus group discussions conducted in four European countries (Estonia, Hungary, Poland and the UK) during the course of the Standardising Measurement of Alcohol Related Troubles (SMART) project. The focus groups produced a rich data set of qualitative material and provided insights into the variable interpretations of many concepts and terms and the difficulty sometimes encountered when seeking ‘equivalent’ translations. Discussion of the main findings to emerge from the research is centred around four main themes: how participants interpret and perceive the concept/activity of ‘drinking’; what/how much is ‘a drink’; the perceived relationship between ‘heavy drinking’ and alcoholism; and how the concept of ‘drunkenness’ is understood. Analysis of the different narratives that emerged from the focus groups points towards significant variation in the usage and meaning associated with these terms within and across the participating countries. Contrasts and commonalities are explored across the data set and the views of participants are considered in relation to the existing literature.

Sexy Selfies of the Transitioning Self

In this chapter we explore the potential of specific online communities as sites and tools of transition. Our analysis is based on ethnographic data from an NSFW (Not Safe for Work)2 community on the Tumblr social media site. Using selfies (photos taken of oneself by oneself, usually using a smartphone or a webcam and shared on social media), blogs, and participants’ stories as empirical material, we locate our analysis at the intersection of the youth transitions and youth culture theories.

Erasmus and Citizenship

Since 2014, a range of actions associated with the preceding Youth in Action initiative have been interpolated into the Erasmus programme, including voluntary placements and other forms of short duration exchange. In this chapter, we elaborate upon the shift away from academic mobility and towards establishing a clearer personal-political agenda in Erasmus+. We also examine the potential role of Erasmus in encouraging active citizenship, taking into account the value of mobility to its realization. Evidence is used from empirical material gathered in Estonia in the form of interviews with young people conducted before and approximately seven months after they had participated in a mobility project, with specific emphasis on the development of citizenship competences.

The Erasmus Impetus

In this chapter, we acknowledge international conviviality as an important driver of Erasmus participation for students, with the communal nature of exchanges being one of the main reasons for the programme’s longevity and success. Using evidence gathered from Erasmus candidates in Italy and interviewees in Germany, we are able to illustrate what an exchange visit means in terms of future personal and professional development. This constitutes an original approach to understanding the impetus to participate in the programme, including the formal application procedure, the initiation of a dialogue between the student and Erasmus authorities, and the experience of entering a competitive selection procedure at European level for what may be the first time.

Erasmus and Employability

In this chapter we take an in-depth look at one of the main theoretical constructs underpinning the Erasmus programme: the idea of ‘employability’. Taking a sociologically informed view, we define ‘employability’ as a form of reflexivity to be practiced during the transition from tertiary education to the labour market. Understanding employability involves appreciating the need to link potential employees and employers, with educators and trainers providing a crucial meditative role in this relationship. Erasmus provides a pedagogical habitus within which this form of reflexivity is imaginatively conjoined with intra-European mobility. The idea is to make students capable of working across national boundaries, acquiring the capacity to engage in transnational circulation and establish professional relationships that traverse national fields, including the development of pragmatic skills, such as foreign language fluency, and an appreciation of cultural diversity.

Conclusions: A Changing Erasmus

In the closing chapter of the book, we bring together insights from the preceding discussion and consider the present state of Erasmus and its future prospects. In doing so, we reiterate the idea that Erasmus is, fundamentally, a pedagogical tool for the learning of mobility and building mobility capacity among European youth. While there is potential for Erasmus to contribute to innovation and economic development in the European Union, there are few signs that this is actually taking place. What is clearer is that the programme faces many challenges and needs to adapt to changing circumstances, with much of Europe appearing to be more concerned with introducing new borders rather than overcoming existing barriers to circulation.

The Quality of Mobility

In an effort to understand how the Erasmus programme is made accountable to policymakers and European taxpayers, and managed as a ‘product’ by civil society organisations, we look at the regulation of quality within non-formal education mobility projects. Discussion in this chapter includes looking at work undertaken by the European Platform for Learning Mobility (EPLM) in benchmarking mobility and key documents such as the Green Paper on Learning Mobility, policy recommendations and the creation of a Charter on Quality in Learning Mobility.

Taking Control by Loosing Control?: Patterns of heroin addiction in Estonia

Similarly to other countries in Eastern and Central Europe, Estonia has a relatively short experience of problems related to the use of illicit substances. In the previously “Real Socialist” countries in general, the increase in drug use among youth did not take place until the 1990s. This paper focuses on opiate users in Estonia. Unlike some other drugs, heroin does not have a trendy status, but is strongly rejected by the recreational drug users of the party scene. On the contrary, opiate users tend to be heavily marginalized. Relying on open-ended interviews with opiate users, this paper focuses on relationships between addiction and the cultural context of drug use. The majority of opiate users belong to the Russian-speaking minority, whose relative social status has considerably weakened after the restoration of Estonias independence in 1991, and who have limited opportunities in the educational and labour markets. Young people started to use drugs from a desire to experience action, but the absence of other meaningful roles besides that of a drug user quickly led them towards addiction. However, the addicts were able to develop and maintain new competencies for living with heroin. It can be argued that addiction does not lead to a complete loss of control over their lives, but is rather an escape route from mainstream society. Heroin users do not become addicted to the drug alone but to the whole way of life centred on it.