Intergenerational Differences of the Religiosity Level of Russian Arctic Residents in the Context of the Values Transformation in the Russian Society

Abstract

The article examines the problem of intergenerational dynamics of the religiosity level in post-Soviet Russia in the context of cultural transformations, combining the movement towards postsecularity and the domination of secular values of late modern societies. The paper analyzes the all-Russian data, ob-tained within the framework of the project “World Values Survey”, as well as data on religiosity and value orientations of the population of some Russian Arctic regions, obtained with the direct participation of the author. As a result of the analysis, the author verifies several hypotheses and comes to certain qualitative results. Firstly, there is a generational shift from traditional values to secular-rational values in modern Russia (according to R. Inglehart). The beginning of this process falls on the period of the socialization of the Millennial generation, the context of which is the economic and political reforms of the 19902000s. Secondly, the process of the intergenerational transformation of values is organically associated with a decline in the level of religiosity, but it is “delayed” by one generation. The author offers an explanation for this desynchronisation. Thirdly, it is shown that the religiosity level of the population of the Arctic territories is lower (in general and by generations) in comparison with the all-Russian religiosity level. The factors contributing to these differences, according to the author, are the relatively low share of Muslim population in the Russian Arctic and its high level of urbanization.

Keywords

• religiosity
• generation
• value orientation
• russian arctic
• secularization
• cultural transformation
• world values survey