Leader Status in Youth Organizations and Movements: the Case of Ethnocultural Associations of the Kemerovo Region

Abstract

The research objective was to characterize the phenomenon of the leader status based on the case of various ethnocultural youth associations of the Kemerovo region. At first, leaders use their experience and skills to get promoted within and outside youth organizations. After that, the personality of the leader strengthens the organization in socio-political interaction. Power rests on authority and various types of capital. According to M. Weber, P. Bourdieu, and L. Stout, youth authority is unstable and requires constant conscious efforts. Youth leaders transfer their characteristics into various types of capital: by managing this capital, they climb the social ladder and exercise their power on the group. Youth organizations and movements act as a training platform for young leaders: they accumulate the required qualities and develop a certain specialization. As a result, they develop potentials that depend on the activity of the youth organization, which, in turn, diversifies the leader’s position in the organization. In general, youth organization leaders herald the interests and needs of their group, while pursuing their own goals.