The image of Russia’s future as a research concept and political project: potential for studying and constructing

The image of Russia’s future as a research concept and political project:
potential for studying and constructing


Zorin V.A.,

Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia, vaszorin@mail.ru


elibrary_id: 142713 |

Selezneva A.V.,

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol, Russia, ntonina@mail.ru


elibrary_id: 604572 | ORCID: 0000-0003-2500-6356 | RESEARCHER_ID: S-4239-2017

Shestopal E.B.,

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol, Russia, shestop0505@rambler.ru


elibrary_id: 104409 | ORCID: 0000-0003-4778-4327 | RESEARCHER_ID: I-4529-2018

Article received: 2025.08.05 17:52. Accepted: 2025.09.15 17:52


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2025.06.02
EDN: BJJAMG

Rubric: Theme of the issue: research conceptualization and political designing of the future’s image

For citation:

Zorin V.A., Selezneva A.V., Shestopal E.B. The image of Russia’s future as a research concept and political project: potential for studying and constructing. – Polis. Political Studies. 2025. No. 6. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2025.06.02. EDN: BJJAMG (In Russ.)


This research was conducted as part of the state assignment of Sevastopol State University, project “Designing the social architecture of Russia’s future: images and scenarios” (registration No. 1025031000058-9-5.6.1).


Abstract

The article discusses a dynamically developing research field related to the study of the “image of Russia’s future”. The interest in this issue is not only academic, but also socio-political in nature. Of course, attention to the public perceptions of Russians about the future is connected with foreign policy turbulence and the importance of several uncertainty factors in the modern Russian political process. The authors consider the image of Russia’s future in the context of the theory of political perception and identify several key questions that need to be answered by political psychologists and representatives of a wide range of social sciences and humanities. These issues include not only the subject of the images being studied, but also the mechanism of their formation, as well as the context in which the Russian citizens of today perceive their country. The diversity of research approaches and the conceptual ambiguity of the concept of “the image of the future of the country” are reflected in the current state of scientific development of the issue. Based on definitions presented in the scientific literature, the authors conclude that the formation of the image of the country’s future in the mass consciousness is influenced primarily by socio-psychological mechanisms associated with citizens’ perception of political and territorial structures and historical and cultural traditions. Thus, the authors identify three main factors in shaping the image of the future of the country: socio-political (the object of perception itself), psychological (the structure and characteristics of the image) and symbolic (signs and their meanings in the content of the image). In addition, the authors believe that the process of creating an image of the future in modern Russia is connected with its construction, the subjects of which are elite groups and institutions of the political system. In turn, this process should be based on a solid theoretical foundation and take into account the trends and values existing in mass consciousness.

Keywords
the image of the future, the image of the country, political perception, social construction, political values.

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