The article presents the results of an empirical study of the social portrait of youth of the Republic of Karelia in the context of transformation of geopolitical space of the North of Eurasia. Karelia is not just a region of the Russian North, but also a strategic border region bordering Finland and having the longest state border with the European Union and NATO countries. The transformation of the geopolitical space is particularly intense here. This is what actualizes the study of the value attitudes of youth as a key human resource of the border region, an indicator and agent of transformation. The study makes up for the lack of comprehensive sociological data on youth in the region. The theoretical framework is the approach of Yu. A. Zubok and V. I. Chuprov to the study of youth in a risk society and the concept of regional identity by M. Keating. Methods: questionnaires (n=3024). Values, problems, life plans, implementation factors are identified and ranked, political activism and patriotism are studied. Cluster analysis made it possible to identify groups by level of participation, including the socially passive “risk group”. Key characteristics of Karelian youth: “rootedness”, adaptive pragmatism, family orientation, systemic pessimism, regional ambivalence. Differences between the capital and the districts in adaptation strategies and migration attitudes are recorded. The dominance of a traditionalist identity, while maintaining trends, may lead to a loss of stability for Russia on its northern borders.
The article presents the results of an empirical study of the social portrait of youth of the Republic of Karelia in the context of transformation of geopolitical space of the North of Eurasia. Karelia is not just a region of the Russian North, but also a strategic border region bordering Finland and having the longest state border with the European Union and NATO countries. The transformation of the geopolitical space is particularly intense here. This is what actualizes the study of the value attitudes of youth as a key human resource of the border region, an indicator and agent of transformation. The study makes up for the lack of comprehensive sociological data on youth in the region. The theoretical framework is the approach of Yu. A. Zubok and V. I. Chuprov to the study of youth in a risk society and the concept of regional identity by M. Keating. Methods: questionnaires (n=3024). Values, problems, life plans, implementation factors are identified and ranked, political activism and patriotism are studied. Cluster analysis made it possible to identify groups by level of participation, including the socially passive “risk group”. Key characteristics of Karelian youth: “rootedness”, adaptive pragmatism, family orientation, systemic pessimism, regional ambivalence. Differences between the capital and the districts in adaptation strategies and migration attitudes are recorded. The dominance of a traditionalist identity, while maintaining trends, may lead to a loss of stability for Russia on its northern borders.
The study was conducted within the framework of the “Region for the Young” program of the National project “Youth and Children” with support from the Department of Youth Policy of the Republic of Karelia.