Civic identity of youth: theoretical and empirical aspects of research

Abstract

Recently, the complex socio-economic processes taking place in our country have set the direction for the study of social identity in the aspect of its civic orientation as an indicator of the degree of civil solidarity and the nature of the consolidation processes emerging in the society, a certain condition for integrity of the state. Appeal to the given topic is dictated by the need to determine the social essence of modern individual and his attitude to the society, in which his existence is. The most relevant is determination of the position of younger generation, in particular, the student youth, who is a strategic resource of changes in the country. Phenomenon of the civic identity is considered based on the ideas of functionalism in the framework of integrative approach and the possibility of their application in modern conditions. The study of civic identity is based on two approaches: citizen identity implies a person's awareness of community with the society on the basis of community of language, territory, culture, traditions; determinant of civic identity is the individual's awareness of himself as a collective subject of the community of citizens of the given state. The authors combined these two approaches into one integrative whole, including personal and social and thereby forming a complex education that constitutes the essential characteristic of the concept of civil identity. The article analyzes the results of empirical study of the factors for constructing the space of civil identity. Particular attention is paid to the factor conditionality of civil identities of the Russian students. Based on the results of the study presented in the work, the question is raised about the relevance of developing technologies and models for the formation of new identity of Russian youth not only as a special socio-age group, but also as a strategic potential of the country.