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Dear Mr. Vihuri

I am writing this letter in response to your recent article in the Objektiiv.ee portal where you share your concerns about the feminist website Feministeerium.ee promoting a radical and revolutionary ideology that, in your view, is inappropriate within the Estonian Republic that’s core purpose is to maintain the Estonian language, culture, and nation.
I have read your column as well as listened to the radio podcast. In dialogue with Markus Järvi, you discuss the problematics of Feministeerium.ee receiving national and international funds to promote a globalist ideology, whereas you point out that conservative groups don’t receive equal financial aid to expand their views. I understand that you problematize the use of international funding in promoting what you call foreign ideology. You see the "globalist ideology" unsuitable for the preservation of the Estonian culture and heritage. My aim is not to trace each organization’s (such as Objektiiv, Feministeerium, or SAPTK - Foundation for the Protection of Family and Tradition) funding structures. However, I cannot help but notice the controversy in using globalism as an anti-argument for Feministeerium’s activity. On the website of SAPTK (with whose values you mentioned that you assimilate), it is noted that the organization is inspired by a global movement Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP).

This blog leans on the principle of diffraction as "breaking apart in different directions" (Thiele, 2014) to create new patterns of difference. I break apart my ability to listen by combining keywords such as contact and effort from my dance practice with consuming the Estonian extreme right-wing online publication Objektiiv.ee.
Under observation is the podcast "Liberal International's Money Injections into Estonian Extreme-Left Associations"* (Järvi, 2021). The discussion in the podcast is triggered by the opinions in the article "Feministeerium and Our Revolutionary Republic"* (Vihuri, 2021) by a pastor and columnist Veiko Vihuri. The podcast is a discussion between Veiko Vihuri and Markus Järvi, the editor of Objektiiv.ee. Both of the men identify with conservative politics. This experiment explores the resistance between my liberal political views and the conservative ones presented in the podcast. I break apart how differences get entangled and magnified by my (dis)ability to listen.
Kathrin Thiele, the gender studies professor of Utrecht University, notes in her article "Ethos of Diffraction" (2014) that it matters how we imagine differences, otherness, and commonality. The way differences are imagined influences whether the lived outcome is separation, antagonism, and fear of others, or envisioning new senses of commonality (Thiele, 2014). In this blog, listening takes proximity with my imagining of differences. The blog investigates how listening increases and/or reduces separating and antagonistic attitudes.
The process relates to my dance practice about plural identities. Working with the notion of hybridism, I have begun to ask how oppositions interact in inclusive environments. The blog will present the path from resistance and prejudice to hopefully less violent interferences with what I consider foreign to me. This journey will be unfolded by videos, drawings, and text.

* The original title is in Estonian. All the titles and quotes referring to Estonian sources are translated by the author of the blog.

According to the European Parliamentary Forum's report, TFP is a transnational movement that originated during the 1960s in Brazil that in recent years is taking momentum on the European political arena within countries such as Poland, Croatia, Hungary, and many more (Datta, 2020: pg 5). The anti-abortion organization March for Life's roots is in the 1974 USA, where it has since spread and found its way to Estonia (Põim, 2021).

click play and scroll down!

WELCOME TO "THE EFFORTS OF LISTENING"

THE SOUND OF PREJUDICE

Scroll right to explore the sound of prejudice, scroll down to find more sounds of listening!

The sound of prejudice results from fixating on specific words, phrases, and sentences rather than hearing the speech as a whole. These phrases are pulled out of their context. Losing attention on the connective tissue between the terms, these words lose contact with what is meant with them by the speaker. Instead, they build a story according to the listener's prejudgments.
The sound of prejudice is characterized by avoidance of contact with the original material. It is described by jumping to conclusions due to the listener's selective attention.
The lacunal nature of my connection with the podcast "Liberal International's Money Injections into Estonian Extreme-Left Associations" (Järvi, 2021) during the first listening is traced on the collage. My proneness to conspiracy, accusative tones, and fear for the Other is explored in the videos above.

RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 REPETITIONS, IDEOLOGY 40 REPETITIONS, GLOBAL 19 REPETITIONS, PROPAGANDA 3 REPETITIONS, REPUBLIC 60 REPETITIONS, LIBERAL 21 REPETITIONS, MONEY 45 REPETITIONS, RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 REPETITIONS, IDEOLOGY 40 REPETITIONS, GLOBAL 19 REPETITIONS, PROPAGANDA 3 REPETITIONS, REPUBLIC 60 REPETITIONS, LIBERAL 21 REPETITIONS, MONEY 45 REPETITIONS RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 REPETITIONS, IDEOLOGY 40 REPETITIONS, GLOBAL 19 REPETITIONS, PROPAGANDA 3 REPETITIONS, REPUBLIC 60 REPETITIONS, LIBERAL 21 REPETITIONS, MONEY 45 REPETITIONS RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 REPETITIONS, IDEOLOGY 40 REPETITIONS, GLOBAL 19 REPETITIONS, PROPAGANDA 3 REPETITIONS, REPUBLIC 60 REPETITIONS, LIBERAL 21 REPETITIONS, MONEY 45 REPETITIONS RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 REPETITIONS, IDEOLOGY 40 REPETITIONS, GLOBAL 19 REPETITIONS, PROPAGANDA 3 REPETITIONS, REPUBLIC 60 REPETITIONS, LIBERAL 21 REPEPTITIONS, MONEY 45 REPETITIONS, RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 REPETITIONS, IDEOLOGY 40 REPETITIONS, GLOBAL 19 REPETITIONS, PROPAGANDA 3 REPETITIONS, REPUBLIC 60 REPETITIONS, LIBERAL 21 REPETITIONS, MONEY 45 REPETITIONS, RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 REPETITIONS, IDEOLOGY 40 REPETITIONS, GLOBAL 19 REPETITIONS, PROPAGANDA 3 REPETITIONS, REPUBLIC 60 REPETITIONS, LIBERAL 21 REPETITIONS, MONEY 45 REPETITIONS, RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 REPETITIONS, IDEOLOGY 40 REPETITIONS, GLOBAL 19 REPETITIONS, PROPAGANDA 3 REPETITIONS, REPUBLIC 60 REPETITIONS, LIBERAL 21 REPETITIONS, MONEY 45 REPETITIONS, RADICAL 18 REPETITIONS, REVOLUTIONARY 36 REPETITIONS, IDEOLOGY 40 REPETITIONS, GLOBAL 19 REPETITIONS, PROPAGANDA 3 REPETITIONS, REPUBLIC 60 REPETITIONS, LIBERAL 21 REPETITIONS, MONEY 45 REPETITIONS

THE SOUND OF CONTACT

Scroll right to discover the sound of contact. Scroll up or down for more sounds of listening.

The sound of contact is friction. It sounds discomforting and electrifying. Quantum and queer theorist Karen Barad marks that there is an electromagnetic force between two bodies touching. Since the electrons on both surfaces are negatively charged, they repel one another. Barad says that the touch felt is actually an electromagnetic repulsion (Barad, 2018).
There is a moving impact on this electric interaction that can be examined through the example of contact improvisation. Here, I refer to a practice that I am developing with a dear friend, dancer, and circus artist Giulia Vinciarelli.
In our dance practice, the challenge of receiving the touch of the other is undoing personal movement patterns. Undoing personal movement patterns means letting go of known movement habits and preferences. Listening becomes a tool for following the impulse of touch.
Listening facilitates remaining true to the mechanics of touch. Recognizing its intended direction and intensity invites new movement patterns into the body. An element of spontaneity and surprise is involved, caused by the electric discomfort of allowing change to happen.

Listening to the touch during contact improvisation requires continuous attention. The sharing of the weight makes the contact point between two bodies create friction while moving. It takes effort to follow the touch effortlessly. Falling can happen.

THE SOUND OF EFFORT

Scroll right to explore the sound of effort. Scroll up for other sounds of listening.

The mapping of continuous contact: The drawing on the right documents the journey of me keeping contact with the dancing body of Giulia. The drawing on the left douments the journey of my contact with the Objektiiv.ee podcast (Järvi, 2021) during the second listening.

culture, and nation?

Having been the occupied minority in the Soviet Union I would like to think that if anything, teaches us compassion towards minorities.

The sound of effort explores my attempt to write a response to the views discussed in the podcast (Järvi, 2021). I challenged myself to initiate a dialogue between conservativism and "radical liberal ideology" that were clearly pronounced as opposing views in the podcast.
As much as finding less violent interference patterns between oppositions relates to my research, there is a personal urgency in this experiment. The Christian conservativism is a small but vocal group in Estonia that is attacking women’s rights, gender equality, LGBTQI+ rights, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Despite the alarming impact that incorporating traditional family values into national legislation has, I am looking to reduce the attacking nature in my tone. The editing process of the letter is made visible to underline the self-negotiating and shifting from more attacking attitudes to the ones that are ready for a dialogue.
I admit that I am not there yet. This is signified by the fact that I haven't come up with a satisfying closing paragraph for the letter. If I'd really be open to dialogue, I'd finish with a question, right?
Yet, much of what I think about women's rights, gender equality, and LGTBQI+ rights in relation to the TFP momentum (Datta, 2020) gaining a voice in Europe, remains more of a statement, rather than something to dialogue about.
Therefore, this letter is still in becoming, in constant shifting to find its impactfulness from something other than blame.

* music used in the video (Hale, 2011).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Barad, K. (2018). On Touching: The Alterity Withing, Karen Barad. [video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7LvXswjEBY&t=1802s [Accessed 17.04.2021].

Datta, N. (2020). Modern-day Crusaders in Europe. Tradition, Family, and Property: Analysis of a Transnational, Ultra-conservative, Catholic-inspired Influence Network. Brussels: EPF.

Hale, A. (2011). Investigation Theme. [online]. London: Rockstar Games. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVSy-ELJzJQ&t=1040s [Accessed 12.04.2021].

Järvi, M. (2021). Objektiivi raadio: liberaalse internatsionaali rahasüstidest Eesti pahemäärmuslikele ühingutele. [podcast]. Objektiivi raadio. Available at: https://objektiiv.ee/objektiivi-raadio-liberaalse-internatsionaali-rahasustidest-eesti-pahemaarmuslikele-uhingutele/ [Accessed 06.04.2021].

Põim, M. (2021). Läksid kaabud, läheb ka Elu Marss? [online]. Available at: https://feministeerium.ee/laksid-kaabud-laheb-ka-elu-marss/ [Accessed 12.04.2021].

Thiele, K., 2014. Ethos of diffraction: New paradigms for a (post) humanist ethics. Parallax, 20(3), pp.202-216.

Vihuri, V. (2021). Veiko Vihuri: Feministeerium ja meie revolutsiooniline vabariik. Objektiiv. [online]. Available at: https://objektiiv.ee/veiko-vihuri-feministeerium-ja-meie-revolutsiooniline-vabariik/ [Accessed 06.04.2021].

* The italics are not added to the reference list due to the limitations of this platform.