Book Publication from CREEES Visiting Scholar, Tomas Balkelis

Tomas Balkelis is a CREEES Visiting Scholar in residence from December 2015 through November 2016. Coming to Stanford from Vilnius University in Lithuania, Dr. Balkelis recently received publication of the co-edited book, "“Population Displacement in Lithuania in the XXth Century: Experiences, Identities and Legacies” (2016).

“Population Displacement in Lithuania in the XXth Century: Experiences, Identities and Legacies” (Eds. Tomas Balkelis and Violeta Davoliūtė, Leiden: Brill, 2016) is an edited volume written by historians from several countries offering a series of ground-breaking case studies on forced migration in Lithuania during and between the two World Wars. Starting with the premise that the mass movement of peoples during and after the Second World War needs to be understood in relation to the population displacement of the First World War, the authors draw on theoretical perspectives ranging from entangled histories, cultural theory and studies of nationalism to trace the ethnic, social and cultural transformation of Lithuanian society caused by the displacement of Lithuanians, Poles, Jews and Germans. 

The volume may appeal to academics, students, specialists and educated laymen interested in the history of Baltic states, East European studies, Holocaust studies, Soviet studies, population displacement, forced migrations and military violence. It may be used as a textbook by students of late imperial Russian and East European history as well as in academic courses on nationalism, revolution, forced migrations, imperial decline, ethnic conflict, totalitarian regimes and war violence. The volume may attract attention of major university and national libraries as well as research institutes that specialize in population studies. The project was hosted by the Department of History, Vilnius University in 2013-2015 and funded by the Global Grant from the Research Council of Lithuania. The research team was led by Tomas Balkelis and included Daiva Dapkutė, Violeta Davoliūtė, Andrea Griffante, Ruth Leiserowitz, Klaus Richter, Vasilijus Safronovas, Vitalija Stravinskienė, Arūnas Streikus and Theodore R. Weeks.