“We Will Die as Free People”

Abstract

Research on the impact of COVID-19 on mobilization focuses extensively on the role of social media, conspiracy theories, and divisive narratives. However, individual perceptions remain insufficiently researched. This article argues that fantasmatic narratives are central to mobilization and aims to analyze changes in discourse during the pandemic as outcomes of shifts in fantasmatic logics. It applies the logics approach to the Lithuanian case to identify the main changes in fantasmatic logics of discourse that became apparent in response to government action. The article analyzes data from social media posts, gathered over a period of two months (June–August 2021), the period centered around the announcement of the “quarantine of the unvaccinated.” The analysis revealed significant changes in fantasmatic logics of discourse—the Other was no longer seen as corrupt for their own gain by the protesters, but as purely evil, which in turn led to openness to various conspiracy theories.