Juozapas Paškauskas

Institute of Lithuanian History in Vilnius

Undiscovered Voices: Everyday Lives of Late 19th-Century Workers and Activists beyond Ideological Frames

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the economic and political mobilization of workers in the Russian Empire’s North-West Krai, alongside the rise of leftist activist movements, emerged as a significant social phenomenon. During the Soviet period, these movements were later absorbed into the ideological foundations of the regime. However, beyond the political sphere – and beyond Soviet ideological constructs – there existed individuals whose private lives remained overlooked, obscured both by the tsarist era and the Soviet regime.

My presentation will explore themes and personal narratives found within the surviving eco-documents of the late-19th-century working class. These include family tragedies, expressions of vulnerability, aspects of sexuality, and questions of identity – these are the topics which are often overshadowed by the dominant political narrative. By examining these themes, I aim to bring to light the human stories that can now be read anew, or, in some cases, explored for the first time.