Eesti perestroika keeled (1986–1988)

Abstract

The article argues that it is possible to create an alternative political language through expert languages in an authoritarian (or late totalitarian) regime. To confirm this thesis, the article applies Cambridge school’s theory of political thought to reconstruct three argumentative ‘languages’ that Estonian authors used to describe and reform politics during the perestroika period (1986–88): (1) decentralism, (2) system theory, and (3) innovation. The availability of these (scientific) languages made possible conceptual transfers from one disciplinary domain to another. The article highlights the role of the Estonian SSR’s scientific community in this process. This community used scientific concepts