Civil activity of generations in modern Russian society

Abstract

The article presents the results of a sociological study of the manifestations of social activity of representatives of various age groups (young, mature, old age) of citizens of the Russian Federation. The relevance of the study is caused by the need to assess the scale and specifics of intergenerational contradictions and gaps in modern Russian society. These contradictions are due to disproportions in the demographic structure of the population and the financial situation of generations. Intergenerational gaps are manifested primarily in differences in value systems, vision of the image of the future, mastery of digital skills, as well as in the practices of forms of activity and motivations for civil participation. The study is based on the theory of generations. The network approach was chosen as the methodological basis. The method of collecting empirical data was an online survey of Russian citizens aged 15 years and older (N = 1600), the formation of a sample population was subject to representation by age, gender and area of residence. The study compared the civil activity of generations by the level of social interaction, readiness for joint actions and the intensity of civil actions. There were revealed differences in the problem field and motives for civil participation of generations. The study shows the preferred forms of civic engagement of generations in offline and online spaces. The revealed ratio of forms of civil activity is compared with the data of the survey of the social and political activity of Russians VCIOM-Sputnik. The vision by different age groups of key ways for the development of civil engagement is also indicated. The article partly explains generational gaps by age differences in the choice of informational channels and the level of digital skills. If previouly in offline civil engagement, a higher level of participation corresponded to an increase in the age of citizens, then in the digital environment, the younger generation shows a greater readiness for civil action. Based on the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion about the low potential of civil engagement, that is due to the frustration of Russians' social relations during periods of socialisation of generations. The author believes that there is a weak social interaction and a high level of disunity between citizens in Russian society. The younger generation, despite the high declared civil activity, unlike the older generations, is not disposed to make significant efforts in social activity and shows a penchant for collectivist forms of participation. With a weak potential for activity, the development of Russian civil society can be facilitated by the assistance of state institutions that harmonise relations between generations.