print

The image of the future in shaping Russian identity among youth in the new territories of Russia

Samarkina I.V.,

Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia, smrkn@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 186730 | ORCID: 0000-0002-0205-8543 | RESEARCHER_ID: A-4728-2017

Bashmakov I.S.,

Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia, igorbash87@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 626627 | ORCID: 0000-0002-5906-803X | RESEARCHER_ID: N-1576-2016

Kolozov D.P.,

Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia, daniil.kolozov@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 1183115 | ORCID: 0009-0003-6575-636X |

Kuzmenko N.P.,

Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia, nelly20_20@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 1194815 | ORCID: 0009-0003-7286-1598 |

Article received: 2025.04.04 19:54. Accepted: 2025.01.16 19:54


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2025.06.03
EDN: JSTONO

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

For citation:

Samarkina I.V., Bashmakov I.S., Kolozov D.P., Kuzmenko N.P. The image of the future in shaping Russian identity among youth in the new territories of Russia. – Polis. Political Studies. 2025. No. 6. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2025.06.03. EDN: JSTONO

The reported study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation in the framework of research project № 24-28-00660 “Russian new citizens’ image of the future: content, models and practices of formation in the conditions of modern Russian society consolidation”.

Abstract

The article presents the results of an empirical study on the image of the future as one of the temporal layers of the human life world and part of the subjective space of youth policy in the new subjects of the Russian Federation. The research is based on a theoretical approach that integrates the ideas and concepts of phenomenology, the identitarian approach, the ideas of social constructivism and the politicalpsychological approach. The authors define the image of the future (visions of the future) as part of the subjective political space of an individual or a group (in this case, young people). It reflects scenarios of personal, social, and political development in the short, medium, and long term and is shaped by both external and internal factors. The article presents an analysis of empirical data collected in 2024 through a series of focus groups and a questionnaire survey of young people in the Republic of Crimea, the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Donetsk People’s Republic, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Regions, as well as expert interviews with representatives of academia and public policy in these regions. Socio-cultural diversity requires different approaches in working with young people, especially when considering vital and civic values, ideas about the Motherland, about one’s country, which form the core of the political picture of the world and are a significant basis for the formation of civic identity. This study reveals a correlation between visions of the future and the civic identity of young people in the new territories. It also shows that young Russian citizens reflect upon the future, although emotional dimension of their perceptions is contradictory. The value foundations of these worldviews can be analysed in relation to the system of traditional Russian values, and the system of institutional mechanisms and technologies for shaping these visions yields interesting insights. Young people view personal and social trajectories of the future are following similar trajectories, as they see their personal future as closely linked to the prospects of their country. The technologies with the greatest potential for activity-based future design are social projects focused on territorial development. Three strategies for constructing visions of the future within the identity policy of the new regions are formulated: the strategy of demonstrating opportunities, the strategy of activity integration, and the strategy of value integration, each supported by a corresponding set of technologies.

Keywords

image of the future, youth, civic identity, identity politics, political socialization, new subjects of the Russian Federation, subjective space of politics.

Amara, R.C. (1974). The futures field: functions, forms, and critical issues. Futures, 6, 289-301. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-3287(74)90072-X

Bell, W. (1997). Foundations of futures studies: human science for a new era. Volume II: values, objectivity, and the good society. Long Range Planning, 30, 638-638. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0024-6301(97)84590-6

Bell, W., & Mau, J. (1971). Sociology of the future: theory, cases and annotated bibliography. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Boulding, K.E. (1956). The image: knowledge in life and society. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.6607

Gabor, D. (1963). Inventing the future. London: Secker & Warburg.

Inayatullah, S. (2002). Questioning the future: futures studies, action learning and organizational transformation. New Taipei: Tamkang University Press.

Lasswell, H. (1948). The analysis of political behavior: an empirical approach. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Lasswell, H. (1971). A pre-view of policy sciences. New York: American Elsevier.

Masini, E. (1983). Visions of desirable societies. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Masini, E. (1993). Why futures studies. London: Grey Seal.

Polak, F. (1961). The image of the future: enlightening the past, orientating the present, forecasting the future. New York: Oceana Publications.

Sardar, Z. (1999). Rescuing all our futures: the future of futures studies. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Slaughter, R.A. (2003). Futures beyond dystopia: creating social foresight. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203465158

Batanina, I.A., Lavrikova, A.A., & Shumilova, O.E. (2023). The image of the country’s future: perception by the regional community. Izvestiya Tula State University. Humanitarian Sciences, 1, 13-19. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24412/2071-6141-2023-1-13-19

Bochko, V.S. (2022). Constructing the image of the future of territories: problems, factors, and recommendations. AlterEconomics, 19(3), 407-423. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31063/AlterEconomics/2022.19-3.1

Dombrovskaya, A.Yu., & Ognev, A.S. (2022). Consolidation potential of symbols of the future Russia in the minds of Russian youth: instrumental cognitive science. Central Russian Journal of Social Sciences, 17(6), 87-105. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22394/2071-2367-2022-17-6-87-105

Gorchakova, O.Yu., Filenko, I.A., & Larionova, A.V. (2024). The image of the future of student youth confronted with new challenges: implementation of basic values, optimism and life satisfaction. Siberian Journal of Psychology, 91, 156-173. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17223/17267080/91/9

Gorshkov, M.K., & Tikhonova, N.E. (Ed.). (2022). Rossiiskoe obshchestvo i vyzovy vremeni. Kniga shestaya [Russian society and the challenges of the time. Book Six]. Moscow: Ves’ Mir. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.55604/9785777708984

Harichev, A.D., Shutov, A.Y., Polosin, A.V., & Sokolova, E.N. (2022). Perception of basic values, factors and structures socio-historical development of Russia (based on research and testing materials). Journal of Political Research, 6(3), 9-19. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.12737/2587-6295-2022-6-3-9-19

Komarovsky, V.S. (Ed.). (2021). Obraz budushchego Rossii glazami molodezhi [The image of the future of Russia through the eyes of youth]. Moscow: Aspect Press. (In Russ.)

Levashov, V.K., Velikaya, N.M., Shushpanova, I.S., Grebnyak, O.V., & Novozhenina, O.P. (2023). Kak zhivesh’, Rossiya? Ekspress-informatsiya. 53 etap sotsiologicheskogo monitoringa [How are you, Russia? Express information. 53rd stage of the sociological monitoring]. Moscow: FCTAS RAS. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.19181/monogr.978-5-89697-418-5.2023

Maksimova, S.G., Atyasova, N.Y., Surtaeva, O.V., Shakhova, E.V., & Spirina, A.S. (2021). The image of the future of Russia as a basis for positive civic identification. Society and Security Insights, 4(4), 77-94. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.14258/ssi(2021)4-05

Nestik, T.A., & Zhuravlev, A.L. (2018). The attitudes toward global risks: socio-psychological analysis. Psychological Journal, 39(1), 127-138. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.7868/S0205959218010129

Neyaskina Yu.Y., & Shebarshova V.O. (2024) Subjectivity as a predictor of building an image of the future. Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 17, 2188-2200. (In Russ.)

Samarkina I.V., Bashmakov I.S., Kolozov D.P. & Kuzmenko N.P. (2024). The future image as a component of political subjective space: testing the conceptual model. Polis. Political Studies, 5, 66-81. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2024.05.05

Samarkina, I.V. (2023). The civic identity of the youth of the new subjects of the Russian Federation: understanding the results of empirical research in the discourse of inclusive identity. In Proceedings of the Annual RAPN Conference “Political Science in a Changing World: New Practices and Theoretical Search” December 01-02, 2023, Moscow. RUDN (pp. 518-519). (In Russ.)

Samarkina, I.V., Bashmakov, I.S., & Kolozov, D.P. (2024). The image of the future in the subjective space of politics of new citizens of the Russian Federation: experience of empirical research of youth in new regions. RUDN Journal of Political Science, 26(2), 373-388. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-1438-2024-26-2-373-388

Samarkina I.V., & Shevchenko M.E. (2025). The political and psychological context of the expansion of the political space of the Russian Federation: content and impact on integration processes. Society: Politics, Economics, Law, 2, 24-29. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24158/pep.2025.2.2

Shestov, N.I. (2022). The youth’s ideas about the future of Russia: Provincial dimension. Izvestia of Saratov University. New Series. Series: Sociology. Political Science, 22(1), 108-113. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18500/1818-9601-2022-22-1-108-113

Tokarev, A.A. (2024). Mass consciousness of Russian youth: image of the future. Polis. Political Studies, 6, 154-169. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2024.06.11

Tokarev, A.A., Kravchuk, I.D., Boyko, M.Y., & Ilyinsky, R.V. (2022). Sociology of the Russian image of the future: preliminary results. Polis. Political Studies, 5, 117-136. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2022.05.09

Velikaya, N.M. (Ed.). (2023). Obraz budushchego v prizme sotsiologicheskikh izmerenii [The image of the future in the prism of sociological dimensions]. Moscow: Mir nauki. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15862/978-5-907731-42-4

Velikaya, N.M., & Doroshina, A.V. (2022). Self-identification of youth in the Moscow region as a factor of constructing the image of the Russia’s future. Izvestiya of Saratov University. Sociology. Politology, 22(1), 31-38. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18500/1818-9601-2022-22-1-31-38

Vilkov, A.A. (2022). Value and ideological factor of formation of the image of Russia’s future among modern youth (Regional case). Izvestiya of Saratov University. Sociology. Politology, 22(1), 101-107. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18500/1818-9601-2022-22-1-101-107

See also: