I am afraid of “my Europe”

Last week, Swiss people voted for banned of minarets in Switzerland. According to Swiss laws, if you want to make a law, you should collect at least 1000.000 signatures from people and then all people in the country vote for or against it. So they have done it and result is 57% no for minarets. By the way, minaret is a tall thin tower on a mosque. It is used to call people to pray. But in non-Muslim countries, they don’t do it. Read the rest of this entry »

Time to rethink education in EuroMed

Some information of interest from our colleague in Beirut, Siad Darwish.

 Education in the Arab countries is where the paternalism of the traditional family structure, the authoritarianism of the state and the dogmatism of religion all meet, discouraging critical thought  and analysis, stifling creativity and instilling submissiveness. Read the rest of this entry »

Subcultures in Tallinn

The opinions of the article do not necessarily reflect the position of Trajectorya. This post is the result of a field reserach developed by participants from EuroMed region in Tallinn in the frames of the TC Exploring Dialogue.

It is quite ok to express yourself in a way you like.

Any subculture is welcomed here: “Estonians are pretty tolerant but still keeps the distance” – one Estonian said.

Although average local people, who were interviewed, do not know much about the subcultures, they find it as a way of self-expression. Finish tourists who we found walking on the street have not paid much attention to local different – looking people. “All of us should create subculture for our self to make the identity” – Interview Estonian said

From our point of view, to be a member of subculture can be a way of founding yourself.

Ilze and Valda

Political Diversity in Estonia (Tallinn)

The opinions of the article do not reflect the position of Trajectorya. It is the result of a field reserach developed by participants from EuroMed region in Tallinn in the frames of the TC Exploring Dialogue.

We tried interviewing 9 people in the street, but only six of them spoke English. So, not having a Russian or Estonian amongst us was a bit of a problem. We spoke to 2 young girls, 1 older lady, 2 young guys and 1 older gentleman.

We asked them 5 main questions:

1)    How many political parties are there in Estonia?

4 people answered there were 6 parties. 2 said there were 9. Wikipedia says there are 6 in Parliament and 3 other minor ones.

2)    Which are the main parties?

Keskerakond (Center Party), which normally gets most Russian votes.

Reformierakond (Reform Party), which traditionally gets most Estonian votes.

3)    Which Party is in power, and howe often does the governance change? (is the government relatiovely stable?)

The Reform Party is in power at the time. Most people we asked said the governament changes every 4 years or so.

4)    How does Estonia´s History influence modern-day politics?

The Reform Party was established to reform Estonian economy, after it was destroyed by the Soviets. Most Estonians vote by economic ideology and interests.

5)    Are minorities represented in Estonian politics?

There is an Estonian community and a non-Estonian one (made up of Russians, Tatars, Jewish and other nationals). Surprisingly, there are no minority parties, and most minorities also vote based on economical interest. An example is the Russian community, comprising Estonia´s highest and lowest levels of economy, and therefore voting quitedifferently