Symbolic Structure of the Post-Soviet Transformations in Latvia and Emigration: Avoiding Shame and Striving for Hope and Confidence
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SYMBOLIC STRUCTURE OF THE POST-SOVIET TRANSFORMATIONS IN LATVIA AND EMIGRATION: AVOIDING SHAME AND STRIVING FOR HOPE AND CONFIDENCE by IVETA ĶEŠ ĀNE B.S., Latvian Culture Academy, 2005 M.S., Alberts Ludwigs University and Kwazulu-Natal University, 2008 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2016 Abstract This dissertation explores the case of emigration from Latvia towards the West after collapse of the Soviet Union. It takes the perspective of a particular cultural structure that came to dominate post-Soviet Latvia and adopts the vantage point of the state-society relationships this structure has cast. The central question of this study examines: what is the relationship between the cultural structure in post-Soviet Latvia and emigration towards the West? This study answers this question by contrasting Latvia’s civil discourse with emigrants’ and those who remain in Latvia personal narratives through the lens of cultural sociology that emphasizes the role of the symbolic realm, meaning making, and emotions. Research findings suggested that the post- Soviet cultural structure was dominated by “symbolic codes” (Alexander and Smith, 1993) or sharp divides such as West vs. East/Soviet, Right vs. Left, and Developed vs. Underdeveloped. Notably, symbolic codes of West, Right and Developed were constructed as “sacred” while their opposites were pushed out of “sacred” and ridiculed. These divides originated from such particular emotions as shame, confidence/pride and fear. Their meanings in the dominant transformation discourse and emotional origins were formative to the identity and modern state craft, and subjectivities in post-Soviet Latvia. These sharp divides between what is “sacred” in a community and what is not, came with “unintended consequences” (Weber, 2002). These divides and how they shaped the transformation discourse trumpeted misguided notion of the West, post-Soviet Latvia so eagerly wanted to resemble and belong to. Given this distorted notion of the West, the ruling elite fashioned environment where people not only lost hope for their better future in Latvia but began to lose their self-confidence - an important emotion for one’s “willingness to act” (Barbalet, 2004, p.83); and, as such, were more prone to emigration. Emigration for my respondents provided the space where West and Left were experienced as compatible despite their construction as incompatible in post-Soviet Latvia. Amidst confidence over their better future in their receiving countries, this gave to emigrants also a feeling of comfort, sense of self- confidence and empowerment. SYMBOLIC STRUCTURE OF THE POST-SOVIET TRANSFORMATIONS IN LATVIA AND EMIGRATION: AVOIDING SHAME AND STRIVING FOR HOPE AND CONFIDENCE by IVETA ĶEŠ ĀNE B.S., Latvian Culture Academy, 2005 M.S., Alberts Ludwigs University and Kwazulu-Natal University, 2008 A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2016 Approved by: Major Professor L. Frank Weyher Copyright IVETA ĶEŠ ĀNE 2016 Abstract This dissertation explores the case of emigration from Latvia towards the West after collapse of the Soviet Union. It takes the perspective of a particular cultural structure that came to dominate post-Soviet Latvia and adopts the vantage point of the state-society relationships this structure has cast. The central question of this study examines: what is the relationship between the cultural structure in post-Soviet Latvia and emigration towards the West? This study answers this question by contrasting Latvian civil discourse with emigrants’ and those who remain in Latvia personal narratives through the lens of cultural sociology that emphasizes the role of the symbolic realm, meaning making, and emotions. Research findings suggested that the post- Soviet cultural structure was dominated by “symbolic codes” (Alexander and Smith, 1993) or sharp divides such as West vs. East/Soviet, Right vs. Left, and Developed vs. Underdeveloped. Notably, symbolic codes of West, Right and Developed were constructed as “sacred” while their opposites were pushed out of “sacred” and ridiculed. These divides originated from such particular emotions as shame, confidence/pride and fear. Their meanings in the dominant transformation discourse and emotional origins were formative to the identity and modern state craft, and subjectivities in post-Soviet Latvia. These sharp divides between what is “sacred” in a community and what is not, came with “unintended consequences” (Weber, 2002). These divides and how they shaped the transformation discourse trumpeted misguided notion of the West, post-Soviet Latvia so eagerly wanted to resemble and belong to. Given this distorted notion of the West, the ruling elite fashioned environment where people not only lost hope for their better future in Latvia but began to lose their self-confidence - an important emotion for one’s “willingness to act” (Barbalet, 2004, p.83); and, as such, were more prone to emigration. Emigration for my respondents provided the space where West and Left were experienced as compatible despite their construction as incompatible in post-Soviet Latvia. Amidst confidence over their better future in their receiving countries, this gave to emigrants also a feeling of comfort, sense of self- confidence and empowerment. Table of Contents Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. x List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ xii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... xiv Preface......................................................................................................................................... xvii Chapter 1 - On Phenomenon, Theory and Method ......................................................................... 1 The Latvian Emigration Phenomenon and Research Problem ................................................... 2 Rationale for the Research .......................................................................................................... 7 Theoretical Framework: Symbolic Codes, Emotions, the State-Society Relationship, and Cultural Autonomy ................................................................................................................... 15 Method ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 2 - Becoming Western and Developed: Sacredness and Emotions ................................. 43 West as a Symbolic Code ......................................................................................................... 46 Dominant Structure of West Code in post-Soviet Latvia ......................................................... 49 Latvia’s Institutional Integration into West .............................................................................. 51 Discursive Construction of West Code as “Sacred” ................................................................. 55 Different Mentality, Shame and Confidence or the Origins of the West Code as Sacred in post- Soviet Latvia ............................................................................................................................. 79 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 96 Chapter 3 - Constructing the Right and Left Distinction: the State, Market and Individual ...... 100 Right and Left in post-Soviet Latvia ....................................................................................... 100 Historical Origins and Meaning of the Right vs. Left Code ................................................... 107 Dominant Construction of Right Code as “Sacred” ............................................................... 110 West and Left Incompatibility in post-Soviet Latvia .............................................................. 126 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 132 Chapter 4 - Voice, Politics of Shaming and Social Bond: Protests by Schoolteachers and Farmers in Post-Soviet Latvia ............................................................................................................ 135 viii Shame, Politics of Shaming and Social Bond ......................................................................... 136 Collective Effort and Pride of the Independence Movement ................................................. 138 Protests by Schoolteachers and Farmers in the 1990s ............................................................ 141 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................