Peter Sookruus, 1990

Deputy Ideology Secretary of Estonian CP; Sociologist, CP
Interviewed in Tallinn 22 Sept 1990
Interviewer: Gwynne Dyer

Sociology of Estonia society. Russian half of Estonian population do not span the entire social scale. Recent processes of immigration, postwar, has changed the national composition of the social structure. Estonians have moved out from some areas, especially in industry and transportation, and building. Some 35,000 Russians come in every year, about 30,000 go out, back to Russia. They tend to be workers, not professionals, but are not like gastarbeiters but tend to think they should be the bosses, about what language should be spoken, etc. One idea is to try to slow industrialization to stop attracting these people.

The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy, by Metta Spencer, published by Lexington Books
mspencer@web.net