Komsomol Activity as Factor in Formation of Value of Knowledge in Public Consciousness of Youth at the Turn of 1950s-1960s

Abstract

The questions of how successfully the youth of the second half of the 1950s - the first half of the 1960s formed a focus on the value of knowledge and what role the Young Communist League (Komsomol) played in this are considered. Studying the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League from the standpoint of state, the authors came to the conclusion that this kind of “Ministry of Youth” not only served as an institution of political socialization, but also persistently showed concern for the education of youth. The basic directions of activity of the Komsomol to achieve the goals of universal education (universal education) are revealed. The achievements in the popularization of science and technology among young people are shown. To assess the perception of the youth of the USSR of knowledge as a value, the authors widely use the results of mass surveys published in the 1960s in the “Komsomolskaya Pravda.” It is noted that the most important indicator of the prestige of knowledge is the high level of popularity of self-education. It is especially emphasized that during this period the organizers of youth leisure in any case did not forget about educational tasks. The novelty of the study is that the materials of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, as well as previously stored under the heading of “top secret” documents of collections for official use have been introduced into scientific circulation.

Keywords

• «оттепель»
• “thaw”
• youth
• values
• knowledge
• education
• komsomol
• science