In this show we speak with Lithuanian activist and researcher Arnoldas S. about the social and political situation in his place of birth. Located at the margins of Europe, Lithuania has been a terrain of neoliberal experimentation and seen massive outmigration in the recent past. Praised for frictionless implementation of austerity policies in the crisis, sold off via images of docile workers and passive masses, praising its Special Economic Zone to investors, Lithuania is also a place of resistances. In this show we speak about its position with respect to the EU and its Soviet past, of shifting subjectivities and discourses, labour and organising, grassroots practice and postcolonial readings. How to situate and displace oneself within the logics of periphery and identity?
Links:
Between Mimesis and Non-Existence: Lithuania in Europe, Europe in Lithuania, Rasa Balockaite, 2008, Eurozine
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-05-08-balockaite-en.html
Lithuania: The Myth of the Passive Mass, Noah Bremer, 2014, LeftEast
Abolishing the Borders from Below, Kurze Geschichte der Zeitschrift auf Deutsch
http://no-racism.net/article/1152/
Abolishing the Borders from Below, Wikipedia English
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolishing_the_Borders_from_Below
Kaunas Free Economic Zone Webportal
http://www.ftz.lt/index.php/html-meniu/kaunas-fez/60
Songs:
Alina Orlova, Emigranty
Sa-Sa, Kažkas mirė
VRR, Džiaugsmas
CandyCactus, Sugrįžimas
We also recommend this 2013 short documentary about emmigration and the social-political situation in Lithuania: “Shall I?” Produced by http://drozdoff.net Full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYWCg837B0c
