National identity and patriotism among Russian youth: Representations, feelings and actions

Abstract

This article is based on data of empirical research in four border regions of Russia. We try to reveal the new trends in youth’s national identity through the analysis of social identifications, interpretations of patriotism and patriotic actions. We conclude that youth's national identity comprises traditional and modern traits, proving its nature as social construct, reproduced and shaped trough public political discourse and everyday practices. While national civic identification takes the central place in the youth identification hierarchy, young people feel more cosmopolitan than elderly people and give a special meaning to their own cultural and ethno-confessional identities. Their patriotic representations are transformed under worldwide mobility and influence of politically oriented actions; they diverge from understanding of patriotism of other generations, the result is the lower self-evaluation of patriotic feelings, which have become more abstract and less associated with concrete actions and deeds.