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Paper short abstract:

The aim of this paper is to discuss how the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and territorial restrictions challenged people's daily lives, and what local voluntary initiatives emerged in in small town communities. The paper is based on research in two towns of Lithuania -Josvainiai and Ramygala.

Paper long abstract:

A small-town in Lithuania is a tightly-knit community

united by kinship, friendship, neighboring, and communal ties with its

life located in that particular place. However, the everyday practices

and sociality of their residents today extend to much wider territory

than the town. They work, attend schools, and travel for shopping or

entertainment to the larger cities, which are at a distance. They meet

their family members who emigrated for work to other countries. The

Covid-19 pandemic crisis and the lockdown is a challenge that

unexpectedly locked up their lives. Some of them lost their jobs or

started remote work, students switched to remote learning, travel

restrictions were issued, and public places were closed. Isolation at

home and concerns about their own health disrupted people's social

relationships, and sociality.

The paper will discuss local initiatives and volunteering that serve the

most urgent needs of those in isolation, keep the daily lives undamaged

as much as possible, and stimulate sociality: by helping the elderly

people who are at risk, and those who are in self-isolation; sewing

masks for community needs; helping with remote learning; sharing ideas

about creative activities at home; or establishing informal emotional

support groups. The paper is based on ethnographic research in two towns

of Lithuania - Josvainiai and Ramygala.