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12
Opinion&Analysis
ThepoliticisationofRussianyouth,SvetlanaErpyleva
YouTube.ItisthegenerationthatexperiencedthemassprotestsofBolotnayaat
theageof10–15yearsandthegenerationthatatleasthasheardsomethingabout
civilandoppositionpolitics.Navalny’sdominationonsocialmediaplatformslike
VkontakteandYouTubewasanimportantfactoraswell.AsIwastoldbyone
teenager,whoparticipatedintheanti-corruptionrallyonJune12th,uHalf[ofour
class]triestostayoutofpolitics…TesecondhalfknowswhoNavalnyis,well,
maybetheyexchangememesaboutNavalny.”
Anotherparticipantattherally,an18-year-oldfe-
Today’spolitically
malestudent,explainedthatoneofthereasonsforher
activeadolescents
interestinNavalnywasanactivediscussionaboutpol-
understandthat
iticsamongherpeers.Elementsofpoliticspenetrate
intoadolescentandyouthcultureinwhich,asnoted
beinganadultmeans
bysociologists,traditionalustyle”subculturesarere-
beingmoresavvyand
placedbysolidarities–polarisedaccordingtovalue
activeinpolitics.
vectorsaroundtopicssuchasgender,xenophobia,
patriotismandhealthylifestyles.Forexample,among
the80first-yearstudentsItaughtthisyearinoneoftheRussiannon-capitalcit-
ies,Imetseveralgirlswhopubliclyidentifiedthemselvesasfeministsandsever-
alstudentsassupportersoftheopposition.Teseyoungpeople,yesterday’shigh
schoolstudents,wereabletoformanactivecivicpositionalreadyintheirsenior
classes(bytheageof17and18).
Alsoevidentfromourinterviewswiththeyoungpeopleattendingtheanti-cor-
ruptionrallyinStPetersburgisthatgrowingupforthemmeanssomethingmore
thanjustpersonaldevelopmentandhowone’sprivatelifeislived,butalsohow
oneengageswithininthepublicspace.WhiletheyoungprotestersatBolotnaya
consideredthemselvestobeadultsineverydaylifebutunderageinthesphereof
politics,today’spoliticallyactiveadolescentsunderstandthatbeinganadultmeans
beingmoresavvyandactiveinpolitics.uIgrewup,”saidonefreshmanstudent
whenexplaininghisdecisiontogotoananti-corruptionpoliticalrally.uMyat
-
titudehassomehowchangedandIbegantothinkformyselfandnotsuccumbto
thepropaganda.WhenIwasasmallchild,Ididnotunderstandanything.Putin
wasonTV,Putinwasinthestreet;Putinwaseverywhere.”
Notjustmediaimages
Atthesametimeofcourse,itwouldbeincorrecttogeneralisetheentiregen-
eration.Forexample,amongthesame80freshmanstudentsthatItaught,many,if
notmost,werenotinterestedinpolitics.Teyalsohaveconservativeworldviews
