Associational Life in Lithuania at the Beginning of the 20th Century: the Importance of the Lithuanian diaspora in the USA

• In Event: Baltic Humanitarian Cooperations and Endeavors (Late 19th Century to 1940)

Abstract

After the 1905 Revolution, the conditions for ethnically based Lithuanian educational and cultural associations in Lithuanian governorates of the Russian Empire improved considerably. Although the tsarist administration still hindered the free development of associations, the lack of social capital was also strongly felt – especially among ethnic Lithuanians who mostly lived in the countryside and had very little experience in associations. The presentation will analyse the most significant features of Lithuanian associational life in 1906-1914 and the factors that were most decisive for the development of social capital. One of them is the experience and example of Lithuanian voluntary associations that have been operating in the USA for several years. It is already well known in Lithuanian historiography that the Lithuanian Americans supported societies and cultural activities in occupied Lithuania with their donations, and they were very crucial. However, is there a positive influence of Lithuanians returning from the USA in helping to organise voluntary associations in Lithuania, or were other social groups more important? How did Lithuanians who had no experience in associations manage to acquire organisational skills and create voluntary associations in Tsarist Russia, and how quickly did they manage to do so after coming to the USA?

Short Bio

Martynas Butkus is a PhD student in History at Vytautas Magnus University and a junior researcher at the Vytautas Kavolis interdisciplinary research institute. His dissertation project focuses on voluntary associations in Lithuania in 1905–1940. He explores the development of social capital and legal regulation of voluntary associations. His research interests are associational culture, civil society, and Lithuanian voluntary associations.

Author

• Martynas Butkus, Vytautas Magnus University