Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
ThepoliticisationofRussianyouth,SvetlanaErpyleva
Opinion&Analysis
11
teenagerssaidtheydidnotcomeoutsomuchtosupportAlexeiNavalny,thelead-
ingoppositionfigureinRussia,butratheragainsttheoverallcorruptionoftheau-
thorities.WhileNavalny’sonlinedocumentary,whichhighlightedhighlevelsof
corruptionamongstateo-cials,attractedtheirattentiontotheproblem,theyalso
spokeaboutpoliticsintermsofinjusticeanddeception.Teyattendedrallieswith
creative,self-madeposters.
Naturally,youngpeopleareauniquegroupinthesensethattheyareonly
beginningtoexplorethepublicsphere,butthisdoesnotmeantheirwordsand
opinionsshouldbeperceivedasinferiororillegitimate.Onthecontrary,thisat-
titudeshouldbeovercomeifwearecountingontheemergenceofavibrant,new
andpolitically-engagedgeneration.
Rallyofschoolchildren
Tesecondpartofmyresponsetotheabovequestionsmayseemtrivial,butit
doesnotbecomelessvalid:youngpeoplearedińerent.Understandingthisiscriti-
calinapproachestoresearchingtheyouth.Insteadofdescribingtheuyouth”asa
monolithicconstruct,researchersshouldstudyandrecordthevarioustendencies
inthesocialisationoftheyoungergeneration.
Let’stakeforexampleyoungpeopleinRussia.Afterthefirstanti-corruption
rally,whichtookplaceonMarch26th2017inavarietyofRussiancities,themajor-
ityofobserversarguedthatminorsconstitutedasignificantpartoftheprotesters,
atleastinMoscowandStPetersburg.Socialmediadubbedtheeventtheurallyof
schoolchildren”
.Othercommentators,onthecontrary,arguedthatattentionon
highschoolersisnothingmorethanamediaeńect;theywerechosenbythemedia
asasymboloftheprotest,butinrealitythenumberofschoolchildrenoutonthe
streetsdidnotexceedthatoftheBolotnayaprotests.
However,afterthesecondanti-corruptionrally,whichtookplacetwoanda
halfmonthslater,itbecameclearthatyoungerpeoplewereinfactattending.Dur-
ingthisprotestmycolleaguesandIatthePublicSociologyLaboratorycollected
interviewsfromtheprotesters.Tevastmajorityofourrespondentswerepeople
under20.Inordertofindsomeoneolderthan30,Ireallyhadtomakeanextra
eńort.Moreover,itwasnotthefirstprotestformanyoftheseyoungsters.Someof
themevenbroughttheirparentswiththem.Doesthatmeanthatanewgeneration
ofpoliticallyactiveyouthhasemerged?
Notquite.Withintheyoungergeneration,apoliticallysensitiveusubgroup”
(associologistKarlMannheimwouldargue)hasformedandhasbeengrowing
since2010.ItisnotonlyPutin’sgeneration,butalsothegenerationofNavalnyand
