Young People Live in the Present

Experts from the HSE Centre of Youth Studies in St. Petersburg presented the results of research about young people in 14 European countries, including Russia. The study was a part of an international project MYPLACE: Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement.

Elena Omelchenko, Doctor of Sociology, Director of the Centre, and her colleagues, told the HSE News Service about the MYPLACE project, which has been going on for three years and will be completed in 2015.

18,000 young people aged 16-25 in 30 cities of Europe and two cities of Russia were surveyed. Elena Omelchenko noticed that their views vary as a result of different ‘contexts of the countries they live in and their personal family stories’.

Professor Olmechenko highlights former Socialist countries with their ‘radically different cultural and historical background’, the totalitarian past, but at the same time mentions common features found among young people in all countries.

The researchers conducted a comparative study of how historical events and family traditions in various European countries influenced the public stance and political position of today’s youth. In Russia the study focused on ‘youth activism and historical memory’. The experts analyzed the conditions under which young people’s views, expectations, and values have been evolving.

The unique feature of this research is in the way how it combines various methods to produce impartial results. A quantitative survey among 18,000 people, including 1,200 Russians, was supplemented by ‘intergeneration interviews’. Representatives of three generations from families from various social strata (young people, their parents and grandparents) participated in joint discussions.

Generally the researchers noticed an all-European ‘trend of disappointment in politics and democracy’. At the same time, European young people, unlike Russians, are more inclined to protest. Russians explain their disappointment and lack of activity with the fact that they don’t know how to express themselves and, more importantly, don’t believe that they can make a difference. This draws the Russian youth away from a willingness to get involved in political and civil spheres.