Exploring Vindicated Clandestine Networks: The Functioning of Samizdat in Soviet Lithuania

The threat of terrorism greatly increased the interest of social scientists in clandestine or underground networks. There is, however, a lack of empirical data on the functioning and the structure of such networks because of severe problems of data collection of hidden networks. The system of underground publication, so called samizdat, was one of the most effective, even though one of the most persecuted means of oppositional activity in post-Stalinist Soviet Union. The networks of samizdat seem to share many important characteristics of contemporary clandestine networks; they are, however, vindicated under current democratic regimes in post-soviet countries such as Lithuania, therefore, much less difficult to explore. The study of samizdat networks in soviet societies offers a unique opportunity to collect rich empirical data on the functioning of clandestine networks. The paper presents the comparative analysis of several samizdat networks in soviet Lithuania, including the most successful underground publication in the Soviet Union, ‘The Chronicle of the Catholic Church of Lithuania’ which was continuously published from 1972 until the breakdown of the regime in 1989. The publications selected for the analysis include long-running journals such as the Chronicle or “Rupintojelis” (1977 – 1990), as well as short-lived publications, promptly disclosed by the regime, such as “Perspektyvos” (1978-1981) or “Laisvės sauklys” (1976-1977), of sufficiently large circulation. The purpose of the paper is to examine the effect of network characteristics on the endurance of the publication. The paper tests a number of hypotheses, using social network analysis, on the characteristics of ties (e.g. the strength of ties, the anonymity of interactions) and the network structure (e.g. density and centralisation) drawn from the theoretical debates on the structure of covert social networks operating in hostile environment.