Construction of a Generation by Russian Youth in the Context of Radical Social Transformations

Young. 2026. Vol. 34. No. 1. P. 75–90.

Nadya Nartova

Millennials are being replaced by a 20-year-old group, which is entering an active phase of maturation and generational formation. The study of this process based on Mannheim’s tradition is especially important in Russia, which is undergoing radical social transformation. The focus of this article is the process of constructing generational discourse by Russian youth of 18–25 years old in a temporal perspective. The analysis of 72 qualitative interviews with educated middle-class youth collected in 2020–2023 in Saint Petersburg shows the dynamic change of generational narrative associated with the comprehension of current events and the development of shared patterns of interpretation. Young people are redefining themselves away from feeling to be a free generation open to choices and the future, through dramatic reflexive assessments of what is happening and generational perspectives, towards experiencing to be a generation of loss, focused on their private life in the present.

Keywords: молодежь, российская молодежь, качественные методы, youth, поколение, generation, qualitative methods, Russian youth, Karl Mannheim, Карл Мангейм

Publication based on the results of: Generational identity, life choices and resilience of Russian youth (2023)