Creation of rural communities after Lithuania acquired independence

Abstract

Introduction. The processes that took place in the second half of the 20th century in the Soviet Union influenced all the former nations. Lithuania, having been part of the Soviet Union in 1940–1989, experienced the influence of the phenomenon of modernisation. The adaptation of Western modernisation in the case of soviet modernisation was particularly specific in rural areas where there was massive collectivisation, agricultural mechanisation, chemistry, industrialisation and electrification. Following the specific modernisation processes within the framework of the totalitarian regime, in addition to the abovementioned structural advantages, it also characterised the negative features, especially in the rural social space. The reality of the modernised (industrialised) rural countryside of Lithuania could be described distributing it to three main stages: soviet period (since 1940–1990); transformational (1990–2004) and post-transformational (2004 onwards after Lithuania’s integration to EU). In and after the transformational stage, the effects of a centralised system of total control were particularly painful for some of the most modernised soviet-era conglomerates, where the processes of social empowerment of rural communities in the context of the “bottom-up” EU context were particularly problematic. Aim. The aim of the study is to reveal the conditions of creation of rural community organisation in post-soviet Lithuania. Results. The post-soviet rural reality faced crucial starting conditions that were caused by soviet policy implementations during the occupation period. The conditions of rural social field were the result of the so-called specific process of soviet modernisation, where the system control abandoned the existence of community as a social agent: [...]