Building Social Movement in a (Post) Totalitarian Society: The Role of Pre-Existing Social Networks

The paper analyses the rapid expansion of the anti-communist movement “Sajudis” in Soviet Lithuania in 1988. Starting from the establishment of the Initiative group of 35 people in Vilnius, in less than five months “Sajudis” developed into a mass social movement covering all regions of Lithuania and having about 200,000 members. Network perspective to social movement analysis argues that pre-existing social networks functioning as means of communication and channels of recruitment are crucial for the success of mass mobilisation. The specific feature of soviet society, however, was the weakness or almost non-existence of oppositional networks and pervasive distrust except in small and closed niches of friends. What kind of pre-existing networks could be used for the establishment of social movement in a (post)totalitarian society and which ones were the most effective for mass mobilisation? The paper presents the comparative analysis of mobilisation mechanisms of Sajudis regional units. Network data were collected in three regions were local units were established in different periods of Sajudis expansion. The first case is selected from the first group of units established in July 1988. The second case falls into the second and the biggest wave of burgeoning of regional units in August – September 1988. The third unit was selected from the laggards, established in October 1988. The analysis reveals that three different types of social networks were used as social capital for the creation of local units of Sajudis: networks of strong ties (friends and relatives), networks of semi-legal or legal organisations function as “camouflage” for non-systemic activities, and professional and neighbourhood networks. Building an alliance of several camouflage non-systemic organisations was the most effective way of mobilisation, while the employment of professional or neighbourhood ties was only possible in the latest stages of Sajudis expansion.