Ethnofuturism () is an artistic and philosophic movement originating from

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

that has gone through different phases. During its initial phase from 1989 to 1994, it was an avant-garde artistic movement with emphasis on

futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

and characterized by parody, absurdity and provocative statements. In the second phase, starting with the First Ethnofuturist Manifesto in 1994, the focus shifted to the ethnic elements, foregrounding

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

borealism Borealism is a form of exoticism in which stereotypes are imposed on the Earth's northern regions and cultures (particularly the Nordic and Arctic regions). The term was inspired by the similar concept of Orientalism, first coined by Edward Said. ...

and the issues of the

Finno-Ugric peoples Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th century ...

. In the late 2010s, the term was adopted by the Estonian and international

alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

movement to describe their ethnonationalistic agenda. It regards

imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...

as a force detrimental to identity based

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

. Its aim is to create a new European civilization based upon identity and roots and led by

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, called

Intermarium Intermarium (, ) was a post-World War I geopolitical plan conceived by Józef Piłsudski to unite former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lands within a single polity. The plan went through several iterations, some of which anticipated the inclusi ...

. Bringing about the destruction of both

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and

Russian imperialism Russian imperialism is the political, economic and cultural influence, as well as military power, exerted by Russia and its predecessor states, over other countries and territories. It includes the conquests of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russia ...

and replacing them with white ethnostates is a goal of ethnofuturism.Louis Wierenga. Russians, Refugees and Europeans: What shapes the discourse of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia?
/ref> Ethnofuturism contains a cultural and civilisational dimension that helps cement a geopolitical block of countries from the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

until the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

.Alexandra Wishart
How the Ukrainian far-right has become one of the biggest proponents of Intermarium
/ref> Ethnofuturism particularly stresses cooperation between nationalists from different countries. Therefore, regional imperialism and supremacist thinking is seen rather as a hindrance than an asset. As most definitions of

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

in the region are

blood and soil Blood and soil (, ) is a nationalist slogan expressing Nazi Germany's ideal of a racially defined Body national, national body ("Blood") united with a settlement area ("Soil"). By it, rural and farm life forms are idealized as a counterweight t ...

-based, ethnofuturism centers around unifying these regionally sourced identities with one another. Most Ethnofuturists share an understanding of humans and nature as being inherently intertwined in an all-worldly collective, very much like a living, breathing organism. The term "ethnofuturism" was coined by Estonian poet

Karl Martin Sinijärv Karl Martin Sinijärv (born 4 June 1971) is an Estonian journalist and poet. Sinijärv was born in Tallinn. By 2011, he had published 8 poetry books and a cookbook. His poetry has been characterized as etnofuturist, bringing estrangement of lan ...

. The social background of ethnofuturism was connected with the

Singing Revolution The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by a ...

movement in Estonia in the late 1980s, after which the philosophy was developed by the nationalists of the Baltic region willing to unify and create a common civilisational platform.The macro-regional project of Intermarium: The Baltic state’s perspective
/ref> Ethnofuturist philosophy has been popular among politicians of the

Conservative People's Party of Estonia The Conservative People's Party of Estonia (, EKRE) is a Estonian nationalism, nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Estonia led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012 with the merger of People's Union of Estonia and Est ...

and the

National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...

from

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, most notably Ruuben Kaalep and

Raivis Zeltīts Raivis Zeltīts (born 21 March 1992) is a Latvian politician, national-conservative activist, and writer. From 2014 to 2020 he was the Secretary-General of the National Alliance, as well as board member and leader of its youth organization. He w ...

. They have been in close cooperation with

Ukrainian nationalists Ukrainian nationalism (, ) is the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The origins of modern Ukrainian nationalism emerge during the Cossack uprising against the Poli ...

and organizations from the

Visegrád Group The Visegrád Group (also known as the Visegrád Four or the V4) is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-operation in military, e ...

member states who share similar ideas. The

National Corps The National Corps (), also known as the National Corps Party, a far-right political party in Ukraine, was founded in 2016 and then led by Andriy Biletsky. Biletsky had previously founded and led two far-right groups, the Patriot of Ukraine (200 ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

also shares and supports ethnofuturist philosophy.

References

{{Reflist Intermarium Political ideologies Far-right politics