‘Adult’ youth in the contemporary social space of Russia

Abstract

The study of the contemporary youth problems is impossible without generational analysis which provides methodological grounds for understanding the youth’s place in the social space, their functions and identification practices in the context of generational changes and continuity. The theoretical grounds for such an analysis were provided by the theory of generations by K. Mannheim, by his definition of socialization of the younger people who take their place in the hierarchy of generations. Some aspects of the generational analysis were developed by Mannheim quite thoroughly, others were only named, but his analysis was historically the first comprehensive study followed by the works of other authors. The article presents the results of the study of the social stratification and socialization of the ‘adult’ youth in contemporary Russia (cohorts of 18-24 and 25-34 years old) and of their position in the social space. Mannheim’s theory of generations was used as a methodological basis, while the empirical data was provided by the All-Russian representative survey of the ‘adult’ youth (N=1717). The author considers the influence of material well-being and education of parents on the financial differentiation, level of education and professional selfidentification of the younger people; identifies the upward social mobility trend of the younger people compared to their parents; makes a conclusion about the consolidation of the social differentiation among the younger generations of Russians; analyzes the influence of parents, teachers, classmates, informal groups and virtual world on the primary and secondary socialization of the youth. The author argues that informal groups and Internet communications have become extremely important in the primary and secondary socialization of the contemporary youth, especially under their detachment from political participation and ethical absenteeism.