Webinar: The Changing Meanings of Repair in the Post-Soviet Context: From Necessity to Sustainability | Chaire UNESCO Patrimoine culturel immatériel et développement durable
Respatrimoni Network
Webinar series
Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development
organized by the
UNESCO Chair on Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development
CY Cergy Paris Université UMR Héritages : Culture/s, Patrimoine/s, Création/s
26 February 2026, 14.00-16.00 CET
The Changing Meanings of Repair in the Post-Soviet Context: From Necessity to Sustainability
Repair in the post-Soviet context reflects specific historicity and cultural meanings shaped by the Soviet past and its consumer culture, which contrast with the development of mass consumption in Western Europe and the US after World War II. Soviet economic and social context has been discussed as a ‘repair society’, where traditional consumption practices, like repair, reuse and DIY mentality, persisted due to necessity. This presentation shows how the meanings of DIY repair has changed in Estonia by comparing the perception of the Soviet era with contemporary situation. Repair have remained vivid in Estonian cultural memory, and for generations born and raised during the Soviet era, it is a lived experience. Repair practices can be perceived as cultural heritage and craft skills, with the potential for ecological sustainability. The meaning of repair in Estonia has changed from being an economic necessity until quite recently to being a form of resistance to the capitalist socioeconomic system.
Tenno Teidearu is a researcher at the Estonian National Museum and a PhD candidate in ethnology at the University of Tartu. His main research interests are sustainable consumption practices, especially domestic DIY repair, reuse, and repurposing, but he has also studied material religion. His recent research on repair and reuse practices in Estonia focuses on their materiality, connections with intangible cultural heritage, and contemporary repair movement.
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