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ThepoliticisationofRussianyouth,SvetlanaErpyleva
Opinion&Analysis
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notmatureenoughforweightedpoliticaljudgments.Teyoungpeoplewantedto
beadultsandconsideredthemselvestobeadultsintheirdailyprivatelives,yetin
regardstopolitics,theyremainedsmallchildren–andperhapsthatwashowso-
cietywantedtoseethemaswell.
Findingavoice
TesituationduringtheprotestsontheMaidaninUkrainein2013–14wasdif-
ferent.Teyoungestparticipantsoftheprotestmovementconsideredthemselves
tobefull-fledgedmembers,sometimesevenmoresignificantandcompetentthan
theirparents’generation.uItseemstomethattheconceptofwhatitisgoodand
whatisbadisbetterdevelopedamongminors,”Ukrainianteenagerstoldmeduring
aninterview,ubecausetheyarenotsoinfluencedbyallthenewsmedia.Teyhave
thepossibilitytoview[things]fromdińerentperspectives.Foradults,whenthey
usebigwords,itusuallymeansthattheyareright.Butthisisalientoachild.”At
thesametime,youngpeoplewhowereontheMaidanwereabletorecognisethe
authorityofadultsintheprivatesphere,howeverinpublictheyviewedthemselves
tobeonequaltermswithadults.
Inthissense,theanti-corruptionralliesinthespringandsummerof2017in
RussiaarereminiscentoftheeventsinUkrainethreeyearsprior.Teyoungest
participantsoftheRussianprotestsdonothesitatetospeakontheirownbehalf.
Teyconsiderthemselvestobeagentsofchangeand,insomecases,evenleadtheir
parentsbyhandtotherallies.Aretheseprotestactionsthebeginningofanew
spiralofinterestinpublicpolicyinRussia?Coulditbethatprotestingwillbecome
popularagainandtheyouthwillbecomefull-fledgedparticipants?Canwesaythat
today,aftertheEuroMaidaninUkraine,theuelectro-Maidan”inArmeniaandthe
anti-corruptionralliesinRussia,civicparticipationisfinallybecomingnormalfor
post-Sovietyouth?Didthesemassprotestsańecttheirbasicvalues,theirideas
aboutthefutureofthecountryorabouttheirroleinthisfuture?
Tefirstpartofmyresponsetothesequestionscanbegiveninthefollowing
way:despitethenewwaveofpoliticisationofyouth,thedilemmaofself-reliance
andtheinfantilismoftheyoungandradicalstillremainprevalenttoday.Russian
sociologistsclosetotheauthorities,suchasValeryFyodorov,thedirectorofthe
RussianPublicOpinionResearchCentre,havealreadycalledfortheneedutopre-
ventthosewhoareencouragingteenagersandyoungpeopletoopenlyantisocial
behaviour”
.
Whatismore,themediawhichsympathisewiththeprotestershaveatendency
toinfantiliseyoungpeople.TeonlineoppositionmediaTVDozhd(orTVRain)
