Religious change in Estonia and the Baltic states during the Soviet period in comparative perspective

Abstract

The article presents a comparative-historical treatment of the change in the religious life of Estonia from 1940 to 1991, when Estonia was part of the Soviet Union. The article is based largely on documents of the archive of the Estonian commissioner of the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults of the Soviet Union, documents which were not available to researchers before the collapse of the USSR. Religious change in Estonia has been compared to what happened in the neighbouring Baltic countries. The archival data shows an extraordinary decline of institutionalised religion in Estonia during the Soviet period (especially in the Lutheran and Orthodox Churches). Compared to the other republics of the Soviet Union (especially Catholic Lithuania), this fall was particularly drastic in “Lutheran” Estonia and Latvia. Also, some comparisons are made between Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the rest of Europe, in order to test the author's hypothesis that by the end of the Soviet occupation, Estonian society was among the most highly secularised ones in Europe (or possibly the most secularised).     

The use of oral data on life and thought in independent Latvia: A proposal for research

This article provides both historical and ethnographic views of Eastern religion in Lithuania. The historical component is an examination of the evolution of Lithuanian interest in Eastern religions from nineteenth-century studies of Indo-European comparative linguistics and mythology, which linked pre-Christian Lithuanian religion with India and Hinduism, to increasing literary, scholarly and popular interest in India and Asia in the twentieth century, before, during and after Soviet occupation. The ethnographic aspect utilizes fieldwork and interviews to examine three Eastern-inspired religious movements, (Pagan) Romuva, (Hindu) Krishna Consciousness, and (Buddhist) Diamond Way, demonstrating three different adaptations of Eastern religion in Lithuania.     

‘On the outskirts of the Empire’: Joseph Brodsky and Lithuania

This article explores the role of Lithuania in Joseph Brodsky’s life and works before and after his exile from Russia in 1972. As a former Soviet republic, Lithuania represented an intermediary space for Brodsky both culturally and geographically, contributing to his realization that it was a ‘rehearsal’ for his actual emigration. However, Brodsky’s notion of Lithuania changes when, after 1972, instead of representing a simulacrum of the ‘abroad,’ the poet sees Lithuania as a ‘home’ from afar. Emigration, in Brodsky’s case, thus became a realization of the myth of exile implicit in his earlier texts about Lithuania.     

The International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania: successes,challenges, perspectives

The article summarizes the history of the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania and outlines the work it has accomplished to date. The author reviews the problems and controversies surrounding the Commission’s research into the post-1940 period of Lithuania’s history and describes the clashing perspectives inherent in the starkly different Lithuanian, Jewish, Western and Soviet wartime narratives.     

Remembering Paul Schiemann (1876–1944)

Abstract

This paper explores how population displacement operated in Lithuania in the immediate post-WWI period. In 1918 the disintegration of the old imperial polity led to the emergence of a Lithuanian state. Beyond the field of battle, the struggle to maintain the independence of Lithuania was characterised by an intense process of state and nation-building. All this hectic activity was accompanied by population displacement on a scale first witnessed in 1915–16.

Unlike the military campaigns, these state-building efforts did not come to an end in 1920. My argument is that population displacement presented the Lithuanian authorities with an opportunity to claim and to establish Lithuanian refugees as potential members of a new nation-state, thereby defining its spatial, demographic and cultural boundaries. The newly formed Lithuania offered a potential political homeland for tens of thousands of war refugees of various ethnic groups who had lived in the former north-western provinces before 1914, but who were displaced by war. According to rough estimates, the total number of Lithuanian refugees who settled in the Russian interior stood at 550,000 at the beginning of 1918. My paper explores their fate in the post-war period as well as official policies of the new Lithuanian state adopted towards the refugees.

The logic of the homogenising national state required that the refugees had to be persuaded or forced to abandon their divergent and multiple identities born in exile and rooted down in the single space of the national homeland. Nevertheless, the spatial pattern of ‘the homeland’ was still in flux, due to the border wars between Lithuania, Soviet Russia and Poland in 1918–20. As a result, some refugees were excluded from the ranks of Lithuanian citizenry. Their difficult situation was further aggravated by famine in Russia in 1921, which called for cooperation between Soviet Russia, Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. Thus, on the one hand, the refugees served as a focus for the propaganda of the belligerent states, while on the other hand their uncontrollable movement compelled governments to co-operate.

The paper is based on two collections of primary documents: the files of the Lithuanian Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs.     

The economic output growth of Baltic countries in 1913–1938: a quantitative cross-country comparison

ABSTRACT

This article surveys and appends the available quantitative research on the interwar economic growth of Baltic countries to compare gross domestic product (GDP) (in 1990 Geary–Khamis dollars) growth in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania between 1913 and 1938 in a broad international context. Finland’s GDP per capita recovered to the 1913 level in 1923, in Estonia recovery was complete by 1922, in Lithuania by 1924, and in Latvia by 1924–1925. By high-end estimates, the growth performance of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania was not weaker than Finland’s. By 1938, the GDP per capita of all Baltic countries exceeded the level of the Soviet Union with the possible exception for Lithuania.     

On Political Terror during the Soviet Expansion into Lithuania, 1918–1919

This article deals with a noticeable anomaly of Bolshevik expansion in Lithuania during 1918–1919: the refusal of the Soviet authorities to resort to terror to subdue the local population in order to export the world revolution. The author argues that the Soviets avoided political terror in Lithuania because they did not treat the Lithuanians as a nation capable of sustaining their own state. In fact, anti-Bolshevik forces employed more terror than the Bolsheviks in their attempt to drive out the Reds and uproot Lithuanian support for the Communist regime. The Lithuanian left-wing government of Mykolas Sle?evi?ius sought to contain its radicalized military and to preserve a soft-handed relationship with the local Bolshevik government.     

Consolidation as hegemonization: The case of Estonia

Abstract

The shift from the Soviet system to market economies has induced a wide range of changes in the forest sectors of the three Baltic states. The majority of these changes are the result of compromises made between stakeholders participating in forest policymaking and implementation. In this article it is argued that the relative success of the increasingly complex and dynamic environment of forest policy action arenas is ensured by interconnecting policy networks instead of hierarchical governance by the state. We map and characterize forest policy networks in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, while identifying the actors participating in forest policy formation and implementation. The forest policy networks of the Baltic states are compared against each other and with the situation during the last years of the Soviet system.     

Teaching Islam at a home school: Muslim women and critical thinking in Uzbekistan

In this article I describe and analyse non-institutionalized religious education among local women in Uzbekistan. I argue that while exhibiting vestiges of ‘traditional’ objectives, methods of teaching, and models of knowledge transmission, and incorporating elements of educational reforms advocated by the Central Asian reformers in the early 1900s, and of Soviet pedagogy, the dynamics of such education foster students' critical thinking. By enabling students to think critically about their lives and social environment, the non-institutionalized religious education does not have one predetermined outcome, but ensures social change that starts on an individual level, whereby a student can, but does not have to, engage politically with the state, which systematically intervenes in shaping its citizens' religious lives.     

Bourgeoisie as internal orient in the Soviet Lithuanian literature: Roses Are Red by A. Bieliauskas, 1959

ABSTRACT

In this paper, the concept of internal colonization is applied to the Soviet initiatives of re-socializing the large parts of the population and creating a socialist working class from peasantry, artisans, and residues of the bourgeoisie. The internal colonization, or the power relations between native Communists and their subalterns in Lithuania, is analyzed on the basis of Roses Are Red, a novel by Bieliauskas. Here, class is invented as substitute of race. The Soviet socialists stand for hegemonic standards of “normalcy,” whereas bourgeoisie is portrayed as subject of difference, as internal Orient and as internal colony, and the relationship between the two can be legitimately defined as internal colonialism.     

Explaining national preferences on the new European banking policy framework: the case of Lithuania

Utilising the Lithuanian case, this article analyses what determines a country’s position on the transfer of national competency over banking policy to the EU level. In contrast to dominant explanations in scholarly literature, this article argues that Lithuania’s support for the banking union can be explained by the general pro-European orientation of the political system in the context of ambiguous aggregate economic costs and the benefits of the new institutional framework. In 2013, the EU Presidency also positively affected Lithuania’s stance. Finally, the decision about when to join the banking union was subordinated to the process of euro accession.     

The immediate impact of the global financial crisis and neo-liberal austerity policies on in-work poverty dynamics in Lithuania

ABSTRACT

The article analyzes the extent and features of in-work poverty in Lithuania in the aftermath of the global economic crisis of 2007–2008. It argues that the significant expansion of the phenomenon during this time period was fostered by neoliberal policies that have been shaping the welfare system in the country for more than two decades. Furthermore, it draws attention to employment conditions and seeks to understand the experiences of those who live in in-work poverty. This article reveals that, during the period investigated, in-work poverty in Lithuania was associated with being a woman, having children, belonging to single-parent household, and being employed in a precarious working environment.     

The Impact of the USSR on Lithuania's Domestic Policy and Its International Orientation in the Third Decade of the Twentieth Century

This article investigates links between domestic and foreign policy, topics which are usually discussed rather than analyzed in any detail. The case of the USSR and Lithuania is taken as an historical example of the impact of the external factor on domestic policy, and an attempt is made to elucidate how the Soviets tried to influence and correct Lithuania's policy in the inter-war period by providing financial assistance to parties and their press. In this way they sought to set Lithuania against Poland and fuel the conflict between them, so that they would not become reconciled, would not create the so-called Baltic Union with Latvia, Estonia and Finland and would not orient themselves to the West. Using financial and other levers of secret policy, the Soviets contributed significantly to pushing the pro-Western Christian Democratic Party away from power in Lithuania so that the Nationalists, who sought to establish closer relations with the USSR, came to be established. The overseas financing of parties which remained unknown to the public distorted the political process of Lithuania and hindered the maturing of social awareness.     

Explaining community mobilization in the city of Vilnius: a search for social capital

The article explores community mobilization in the urban environment. Specifically, it examines community organizations in Lithuania’s capital city of Vilnius. Engaging with social capital theory, the article illustrates the actual community mobilizations, their stories, collective action strategies, and reasons for mobilizing. It challenges the assumption that mobilizations rarely take place in the urban environment of Lithuania due to low civil society and a nonparticipatory culture. This article shows that when mobilizations do take place, they can be short lived but still achieve significant results.     

Gender and ethnicity in the Soviet Muslim peripheries: a feminist postcolonial geography of women’s work in the Tajik SSR (1950–1991)

ABSTRACT

This article explores the articulation and experience of Soviet gendered ideology regarding work in the Tajik SSR, one of the Muslim Soviet peripheries, during the post-war period ending with Perestroika. Central Asian women’s work was used for economic purposes, as well as being a key driver for fulfilling the ideological objective of emancipating Central Asian women from religion and tradition. Through a feminist postcolonial geography approach, attentive to questions of discourse and material lived experiences, this article explores the ways in which gender and ethnicity were co-produced by Soviet ideology. Analysis of scientific publications produced by Tajikistani female researchers, and of women’s magazines from the 1950s, is contrasted with ethnographic data on workers from various collective farms and semi-urban places, including ‘work heroines’ (peshqadam). Our findings illustrate the hybrid nature of the Soviet regime, advancing theoretical debates on the use of postcolonial theory in Soviet Central Asia.     

Public perception of energy security in Lithuania: between material interest and energy independence

The issue of the energy security in social sciences research area is mostly prevalent in political sciences. The sociological research of the issues of energy is rather scarce. The reasons of the lack of concern about sociology of energy security could be related to the specific geopolitical context of post-Soviet states. The energy policy of new democratic post-Soviet states are pressed to reconstruct the entire energy system of former Soviet Union. This is not only technological or political, but maybe, first of all, social issue directly related to the consumption of users of gas and electricity and their prices. The societies and different social groups become an important social actors in the stressful energy policy. There is a lack of attention not only to social determinants of perception of energy security but also a lack of deeper analysis of public opinion in Lithuania. This article aims to improve our understanding of the Lithuanian public perception of energy security. This article focuses on two aspects: (a) An analysis of public opinion on the most important aspects of energy security and the social factors influencing them. The hypothesis is that public perception of energy security is related to value orientations. (b) An analysis of how public opinion on energy policy executed by the government and confidence in the government are intertwined with the concept of energy security.     

Population Politics in Vilnius 1944-1947: A Case Study of Socialist-Sponsored Ethnic Cleansing

A historian examines a specific case of ethnic cleansing in the immediate aftermath of World War II: the "repatriation" of Poles from the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic between 1944 and 1947. Questions of how "repatriation" was carried out, the motivation on the Polish and Soviet sides, the differences in outcome of this policy in Vilnius and the countryside, and why "repatriation" presents a case of ethnic cleansing are considered on the basis on archival material as well as newspapers, memoirs, and historians' accounts of this case and in the context of the literature on genocide and ethnic cleansing.     

From the Achaemenids to Somoni: national identity and iconicity in the landscape of Dushanbe’s capitol complex

This article focuses on the iconicity of contemporary Dushanbe’s capitol complex, with its state-sponsored architecture and memorial culture, part of the government of Tajikistan’s national identity construction. Dushanbe’s architecture post-independence is actant, a mnemonic and iconographical bridge between the present and favoured historical periods in a quest for national origins. A bricolage of historical symbols, including those of Achaemenid Iran and the early Islamic Samanids, is displayed here in a city with Soviet foundations. Together with pan-Iranian iconography is a desire by the government of Tajikistan for monumentality for its own sake. The capitol complex evokes the natural world, connected to a Central Asian conception of sacred space, suggesting an interlacing of power and religious authority. These monumental building projects are taking place against the backdrop of the destruction of Dushanbe’s ‘authentic’ Soviet architecture and built heritage in the capitol complex, itself a container for collective memory.     

Family Formation in the Baltic Countries: A Transformation in the Legacy of state socialism

This article examines the transformation of nuptiality patterns in the Baltic countries since the late 1960s, in the context of long-term trends. The aim of the study is to compare the entry into first conjugal union in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and analyze the position of the Baltic countries in a broader European perspective. The analyses employ microdata from national surveys conducted in the framework of the European Family and Fertility Surveys program. Our main results on the timing and mode of union formation show that in Estonia and Latvia the shift from direct marriage to cohabitation started well before the fall of the state socialist regime, and followed a trajectory close to Scandinavian countries. In Lithuania, on the other hand, the change in the pattern of union formation has been much slower. The article discusses the factors underlying the observed similarities and dissimilarities in union formation.     

Popular culture and religious metaphor: saints and shrines in Wakhan region of Tajikistan

The article focuses on the study of the Ismā‘īlī saints (awliyā) and shrines (qadamgāh) in the Wakhan region of Tajikistan along with their historical context. Its essential purpose is to draw a succinct historical and ethnographic picture of shrine culture in the region and determine its religious significance in the broad frame of socio-cultural context of Wakhan. While discussing rituals associated with saint veneration and shrine visitation, it elaborates on the changing role of shrine culture in modern Wakhan and its adaptation to the newly established social and cultural circumstances after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is argued that the process of religious and cultural revival in post-Soviet Wakhan had its own distinctive element manifested in the transformation of the existing shrines into museums or ‘museumization’ of shrines, a process that not only changed the spatial compositions of the shrines but also enhanced their social and cultural functions.