Authors
Rasa Kamarauskaite1; 1 SSEES, UCL, UK Discussion
The paper presents life stories of a gay man and a lesbian woman who were anti-Soviet dissidents in Lithuania. Following Vigh (2008) I will argue that due to their political activities, and sexualities their life could be characterised as ‘living in crisis’ where the crisis is understood as a prolonged or ever-present situation of conflict, disorder and incoherence. Nevertheless, ‘living in crisis’ can be also understood as a ‘terrain of meaning and action’ (Vigh, 2008). Referring to the ‘terrain of meaning and action’ I will first engage with the question of agency and choosing to live an incoherent life. Why did the research participants become anti-Soviet dissidents, when they could have chosen to live less dangerous apolitical lives? Why did they choose not to get married, when getting married could have provided them a more stable and respectable position in the Soviet society? Finally, how do the research participants reflect on their decisions from today’s perspective? In addition, I will discuss the possibilities and limitations of the ‘terrain of meaning and action’ and I will argue that a well-structured and well-versed terrain of political dissidence provided a clearly defined identity, a direction, and a structure in my informant’s lives. A terrain of same-sex sexual and emotional relations, in contrast, provided no structure or direction, and as a result came to be seen by the research participants as a goal in itself. 
