Ideological foundations of the image of the future among the contemporary student youth

Abstract

The article considers dominant ideological values of the political culture of the contemporary Russian students as determining main directions for the formation of the political image of future Russia. The empirical basis of the article is the data of the sociological study “Students of Russia: Civil culture and life strategies” conducted on the all-Russian sample by the Center for Political Science of the ISPR of the FCTAS RAS in April-May 2023. The authors define ideology as a stable set of value patterns that compete in determining state policies and social development, and present a ranking of the most significant values of the youth’s political culture, which will determine the configuration of the political field of Russia in the future. The authors insist on the hybrid nature of the student ideological consciousness as combining various components of political ideologies; moreover, about a third of students cannot decide on their political-ideological priorities, and 70 % do not support any political parties, which allows the authors to make a conclusion about political escapism of students, who do not see meaning in their participation in political processes. Such a low level of political participation correlates with low assessments of the state and government activities. The authors mention the influence of the “ideological self-identification” variable on students’ ideas about the optimal future of the country and significant differences in the image of the future among supporters of different ideologies, which implies the need to both monitor and regulate the youth’s ideological priorities. When emphasizing the reproduction of significant political values, the authors draw attention to ideological shifts in the consciousness of the younger generation as expressed in the growing importance of democratic values and the rule of law, which determines a demand for the transformation of the party system and political democratization.

Keywords

• image of the future
• political values
• ideology
• political culture
• student youth
• russian youth