Keletas pasvarstymų apie žmogaus amžių, politiką ir politikus kaimo bendruomenėje, Lietuvai įstojus į Europos Sąjungą

LTStraipsnyje aptariama dabartinė vyresnio amžiaus politikų padėtis vienoje Lietuvos kaimo bendruomenėje. Laikotarpiu, kurio politinio dėmesio centre yra Naujosios Lietuvos sukūrimas, anksčiau sovietų sistemoje aukštą padėtį užėmę žmonės, nepaisant jų problemiškos praeities ir vyresnio amžiaus, sėkmingai naudojasi vykstančiomis permainomis. Straipsnyje svarstoma, kaip vyresnio amžiaus politikai išlieka populiarūs, praėjus beveik dviem dešimtmečiams po sovietų sistemos iširimo, ir kokiais būdais jiems pavyksta tai pasiekti. Straipsnis parašytas taikant nuodugnų etnografinį įvertinimą; jo dėmesio centre – Lietuvos kaimo vietovių politikai, žemdirbių partijos Valstiečių sąjunga politikų taikomos strategijos siekiant įveikti savo problemišką praeitįi sovietinio režimo metu. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Amžius; Amžiūs; Kaimo bendruomenė; Politika; Politikai; Politinės partijos; Žemdirbių partija; Age; Farmers' party; Lithuania; Political parties; Politicians; Politics; Rural community.

ENWith a specific focus on the Farmers' Party, the Valstiečių Sąjunga in the town of Rinkiškės, this study engages with the question of the ageing state representatives in an outskirt rural community. The focus of the article is on the events prior to and after the local elections in 2007 which put the Valstiečių Sąjunga into a central position in the town of Rinkiškės, despite commonly shared knowledge about their Soviet past. Through a view on ageing, the study looks into how and in which way people, previously belonging to the local Soviet elite, are able to renegotiate their political positions in the present day environment, and thereby remain popular in the local community. The continued ability of local politicians to stay in power in the year after independence, despite their increasing age and Soviet heritage, should be seen in the light of the shift in conceptualization of the rural population. [...] Indeed, while formally engaging in a new EU context, state representatives still make use of the Soviet ways they rhetorically abandon, the abandonment being a prerequisite of keeping their position, and yet, the continued use of those ways is a prerequisite for receiving a higher salary and material benefits. Consequently, ageing politicians in the rural outskirts attempt to achieve a new and "young" political image in a constant battle against the past. Furthermore, they created a fun and easygoing envirorunent. They held many activities for their members and took part in every town festival or arrangement for the town's denizens.[...] The Valstiečių Sąjunga, in my region of research, illustrates well the dilemma of how ageing politicians have to reinvent themselves in order to maintain power in the present system. This forces them to reject the Soviet past, which helped them to get their present positions, while they seek rescue in two, for them, "safe" time periods: a romanticized "authentic" pre-Soviet peasant past, which reveals the true Lithuanian traditions, and the "modern EU". In the case of the Valstiečiai, the past is rejected through an embracement of a nostalgic recreation of the pre-Soviet peasant, within their own perception of modernity, where the EU is fitted into already existing structures of governance. In this way the Valstiečiai aim partly at communicating a more conservative equilibrium while still showing that they are capable of responding to the present circumstances. Yet, the politicians and state representatives have been able to use their Soviet past as an advantage, because they, while rhetorically abandoning the past, still continue achieving private goals through public means, which in itself is a continuation of their work strategies from the previous regime. Being close to the various flows of resources, be it goods and services during the Soviet system, be it land and machinery after independence, be it EU funds today, state representatives can benefit much better from their position than the people who are cut off from such flows of resources. State representatives in a post-socialist context have been capable of holding central positions up to the present day despite, or one could say because of, the socio-economic, political, and economic changes in society. [From the publication]

• Politikos mokslai / Political sciences
• Sociologija / Sociology