Plural Character and Versions of Configuration of Russian Youth Identity: Theoretical Framework and Empirical Studies

Abstract

The phenomenon of personal social identity has been studied by researchers
representing various research areas for a long time, which has helped accumulate an
essential fund of knowledge on these topics. At the same time, cultural and historical
changes that had resulted in scientific paradigm shifts underlay the necessity of
considering the problematic area of the social identity of individuals within changing
contexts, such as political, economic or cultural environments. Following the
researchers, our authoring team has prepared the present article on the problems in
characterizing the youth identity configurations at the current stage of Russia’s and
global development. The main challenge of contemporary social live is its complicity
and plurality of social roles the one should play. As a result, we face with so called
“plural”, “floating” identity and therefore we have to solve the problem of identity’s
configuration. It is very important for researchers especially when we study the youth.
The authors try to present their version of identity’s configuration of Russian youth
(especially students) that is based on theoretical and empirical study of the problem.