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Paper short abstract

This presentation focuses on DIY repair and reuse practices in Estonian homes and their historicity in relation to the Soviet ‘repair society’, viewing them as an emerging form of cultural heritage and as a culturally informed ‘ethics of circularity’.

Paper long abstract

Ethnographic studies indicate that DIY repair and reuse remain viable practices in the Western world, extending beyond the common circular economy model. This presentation focuses on DIY repair and reuse practices in Estonian homes and their relationship to the Soviet past and the contemporary climate crisis. This research draws on a collection of repair and reuse stories collected by the Estonian National Museum, as well as the author`s ethnographic fieldwork.

Repair and reuse in the post-Soviet context reflect specific historicity and cultural meanings shaped by the Soviet past and its consumer culture. The Soviet economic and social context has been described as a ‘repair society’, where traditional consumption practices, such as repair, reuse, repurposing and a DIY mentality, persisted due to economic necessity. Repair and reuse practices have remained vivid in Estonian cultural memory. Moreover, for generations born and raised during the Soviet era, these practices are a lived experience and remain common consumption practices.

In the discourse of ‘repair society’, repair and reuse are often portrayed positively as normative and sustainable forms of usership, contrasting with contemporary consumerism and reflecting concern about the climate crisis. Repair is also valued as a craft skill with potential for ecological sustainability. Within the recently emerged repair movement in Estonia, the younger generation of activists, as well as craftspersons and designers, aim to relearn and reintroduce mending techniques to the public. Repair is becoming a form of cultural heritage and a culturally informed ‘ethics of circularity’.