Authors

Laura Dauksaite¹;  ¹ Vilnius University, Lithuania

Discussion

The presentation will examine the problems of applying Ronald Inglehart's theory of the "silent revolution" to post-communist countries and will advance proposals for adapting it to the study of value change in the first post-communist generation. It is argued that after the fall of the Soviet Union there was no transition to post-materialist values, but rather the conditions for the coexistence of different identities (forms of self-expression) emerged. The unstable economic situation of the transition period allowed materialist values to survive in post-communist societies and to reproduce in the first post-communist generation, which socialised in an unstable economic context. After the transition to capitalism, both materialist and post-materialist values were conditioned by specific contextual factors that Inglehart himself does not discuss. Namely, materialist values serve not only the survival, but also the prestige and social status enhancement needs. Meanwhile, the values associated with self-expression are driven by the risks and anxieties emerging in capitalist society.