Lutheran and Russian Orthodox Church Buildings as Symbols of Cultural Identity in the Estonian Parliamentary Elections of 20111

In the 2011 parliamentary election campaign in Estonia, two church buildings fulfilled the function of inclusion by integrating the sentiments and identity of the members of cultural constituencies, and the function of exclusion by drawing symbolic boundaries between the current national government and the opposition and between the Estonian cultural mainstream and the Russophone minority, which cannot be drawn legally. For the parties of the national government St John’s Lutheran Church in St Petersburg was a symbol of Estonian nationalism. For their main political opponents the Orthodox church in the Lasnamäe district of Tallinn symbolised the cultural identity of Estonian Russian-speaking residents and electorate. While this development exemplifies ‘desecularisation’ in the dimension of collective cultural identities, I argue against a too simplistic interpretation of ‘desecularisation’ and for a more nuanced understanding of how religion may play a role even in a very secularised society and polity like Estonia. I theorise ‘desecularisation’ in Estonian politics by distinguishing the types of religion and nationalism that were involved and critically analysing the relationship between religion and nationalism in this process. I argue that the electoral campaign of 2011 testifies to a small shift towards a more religious definition of social identities, which may not re-occur with the same passions and intensity in future. After the accession to the European Union in 2004, the pre-electoral symbolic sacralisation of ethnic identities, however, has become an established practice during the Estonian parliamentary elections.     

Congruence of actual and retrospective reports of precompetition affect and anxiety for young volleyball players

The current study examined the accuracy of retrospective recall of affect and competitive anxiety in 38 youth beach volleyball players, who were randomly assigned into two equal groups: participants who watched a video of their precompetition preparation before responding to the items, and players who did not watch a videotape. All completed the modified competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 1 hr., and the affect grid 5 min., before a competition and again 2 days later. Accuracy in recalling anxiety and affect by these players was significant in both conditions (rs = .59-.76 and .41-.59, respectively). However, in the video condition, item responses showed markedly higher percentages of agreement for the Somatic and Cognitive Anxiety subscales and the affect grid than those for the no-video condition (52.6-78.9% and 36.8-52.6%, respectively). Analysis of variance indicated that watching a video for precompetition preparation improved the accuracy of retrospective recall of anxiety and arousal. Video feedback of performance increased the accuracy of retrospective report of affect and anxiety in these young athletes.     

Religion,the Russian Nation and the State: Domestic and International Dimensions: an Introduction

Letters from Moscow: Religion and Human Rights in the USSR fay Father Gleb Yakunin and Lev Regelson, edited by Jane Ellis, co‐published by Keston College, Keston, Kent and H. S. Dakin Company, San Francisco, 1978, vi + 148 pp., £2.25.

Nous Chrétiens de Pologne by Adam Boniecki et al., Editions Cana, Paris, 1979, 167 pp. No price.