Svajonių fabrikai? : industrializacijos palikimas Baltijos jūros regione (1945-1990 m.) kultūros istorijos požiūriu

Abstract

The paper examines industrialisation of the Soviet Lithuania in the context of the post-war Nordic and Baltic industrial society. The context and comparative research methodology was constructed during the three year collaborative research project “Industry and Modernism in The Nordic and Baltic countries” and a following travelling exhibition “Dream factories?” Both projects aimed to examine the connections between industry and modernism and explore how technology, industry and modernism have affected the everyday life and culture of the North European people. The paper analyses within a comparative perspective the significance of industrial companies (Dream Factories) in the development of the Nordic and Baltic societies during the high-industrial period. The point of departure was that the significance of the high-industrial era extended beyond the economic and technological into other aspects of society, including social structures, ways of life and values. In spite of the two different society models, ideological differences and mutual national diversities, the countries on both sides of the Baltic Sea realised radical industrialisation and modernisation strategies in the post-war period. Comparative research of the post-war industrial companies of the seven Nordic and Baltic countries showed surprising parallels and mutual influences. Thus the question was raised of a common European Baltic Sea identity, which runs across the borderlands of the cold war and emphasises the entire North European region as the seat of a high-rational industry with a common modernistic expression. However, the research also showed an increase in the significance of political history in understanding the core issues, mainly differences. A distorted picture and the legacy of industrialization in the Soviet Lithuania first of all should be attributed to the totalitarian regime. It also disclosed the idea of the seemingly apolitical character of the technocratic society, conventionally equated with the industrial society.