Land Ownership and Political Subjectivities in Modern Lithuania

• In Event: Land Reform and Historical Memory in the Baltics

Abstract

This paper will explore the impact of changes in the structure and system of land tenure on political subjectivities in Lithuania. It will examine land reform in the broader context of projects of economic empowerment that sought to enhance the agency of ethnic Lithuanians as part of the construction of nation states. However, to gauge the impact of land reform of political subjectivities, the paper argues, we also need to take its effect on national minorities and the non-rural population into account. The paper’s primary focus will be on the interwar period; however, it will also provide an exploratory perspective on the dynamics of land reform and society formation across the 20th century, including German occupation during World War 2, Soviet occupation, and the re-establishment of national sovereignty after the end of the Cold War. By focusing on political subjectivities, the paper thus aims to show how land reform contributed to the formation of political ‘we’ groups on the basis of shared experience rather than shared convictions.

Author

• Klaus Richter, University of Birmingham