Post-Soviet collective memory: Russian youths about Soviet past
Introduction
Quarter of a century has passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. During that time, a new generation of Russians lacking any experience of life in the Soviet reality has grown up. Today's students from the leading higher education institutions of Russia are the future political elite of the country, and for this reason it is important to understand their political orientations. It is significant to understand how the younger generation of Russians assesses the past: how they view the political regime and significant historical figures; which historical events they are proud of. It is known that collective political attitudes towards the past – the collective memory1 of generations – in many ways determine the outlook on the present and future.
The paper's structure contains: the introduction to the specific field of research, the literature review regarding the problem issue under discussion (both conceptual and secondary data), the empirical research description, the results obtained and the conclusion.
Section snippets
Literature review
Before starting the research the authors have analyzed the recent sources on the issue of political attitudes of young people living in the modern dynamic world.
Empirical research description
The given research was conducted by the members of the Laboratory for Political Studies of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the National Research University Higher School of Economics in September and October of 2012. It was done within the frames of quantitative data analysis that did not demand the qualitative representation. Thus it does not reflect the macro-level reference to the general population of the country under study. In this regard, the particular group of respondents was
Results obtained
Five main dichotomies upon which the students based their comparisons of the USSR with contemporary Russia have been detected in our analysis. The analyzed dichotomies are presented in Table 1.
We will examine closely each of the identified dichotomies.
Friendly atmosphere, reciprocal help vs. lack of mutual trust, feelings of hatred, hostility
In their comparisons of the Soviet Union with contemporary Russia, respondents paid great attention to the emotional atmosphere of society: warm and amiable during the Soviet regime and hostile and unfriendly in the modern country. According to the students, people used to be completely different: they were willing and helpful at any time; they did not have feelings of envy; each person considered himself a part of “a general whole”. Some students had a quite utopian impression of friendship
Soviet unifying idea vs. lack of national idea
The USSR was characterized by a single unifying idea, which, according to the students, was severely lacking in the contemporary Russian society. The students believed that common idea helped people in the Soviet Union to accomplish various labor-related goals and to feel as part of a single whole:
The ideology in the USSR is similar to the American Dream, except that it is based on the idea that people's accomplishments benefited not themselves but rather their country. There, they have the
Soviet cultural accomplishments vs. pro-Western mass culture
When comparing the Soviet Union with contemporary Russia, students focused a large part of their attention on the cultural aspects of the country's image. According to them, the USSR could truly be proud of its cinema, ballet, and literature. Soviet culture was unique and did not attempt to imitate any other culture. Respondents stated that, despite the fact that they lived in a totally different era, Soviet films and cartoons were some of their favorite works, because they taught moral, rather
Social security vs. lack of social safety net
The students associated the Soviet Union with life certainty and confidence in the future. These were related to the broad social guarantees, which were provided by the state to every Soviet citizen:
People loved their country, were proud of it, because not every country could brag that, for instance, its citizens were given free medical care and education. People had more opportunities, while now they have fewer opportunities to even get that education. Back then, people progressed due to the
Great world power vs. weak, corrupt government
This dichotomy is essentially a collective image of views of both the Soviet Union and contemporary Russia. It also partially includes the comparisons listed above.
The surveyed students associate the Soviet Union with power, strength, and a great world leadership, in contrast to a weak Russia, which is mired in corruption and unable to deal with its numerous problems.
In our opinion, it is interesting to note the following fact: when students discussed the might of the Soviet Union, they proudly
Conclusion
In this paper we focused our attention on the group of respondents who view contemporary Russia as the complete opposite to the Soviet Union. Such responses were given by the majority of those surveyed. The analysis of their understanding of the past, specifically of the Soviet Union, helps us to understand what the student youth believes to be truly important politically, and what to be secondary. As evidenced by the included results of the study, students from the leading Moscow universities
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Irina V. Ubozhenko, Associate Professor of Foreign Languages Department of National Research University Higher School of Economics, who assisted us in editing our paper. It should be also noted that the present research has been conducted under the financial support of the Fundamental Research Center of National Research University Higher School of Economics.
References (26)
- et al.
Consensus and difference: American students' perspectives on the national history
Education
(2010) Sotsial'naya psihologiya. Sotsial'nye predstavleniya kak instrument kollektivnoj pamyati (na primere vospominanij o Velikoj Otechestvennoj vojne) (Social psychology. Social perceptions as an instrument of collective memory (based on the example of memories of the great patriotic war)
Psihol.ogicheskij Zhurnal
(2002)Cultural memory studies: an introduction
Vremya i istoriya v soznanii rossiyan (chast' III) (Time and history in the consciousness of Russians [part III])
Vestnik Obshchestvennogo Mneniya
(2010)- et al.
Molodyozh' Rossii (The youth of Russia)
M.: Moskovskaya Shkola Politicheskih Issledovanij
(2011) Sotsial'nye ramki pamyati (Social Frames of Memory) M.: Novoe Izdatel'stvo
(2007)- et al.
Pride and shame in Ghana: collective memory and nationalism among elite students
Afr. Stud. Rev.
(2011) Sotsial'noe samochuvstvie i vospriyatie budushchego rossiyanami (Russians' social well-being and perception of the future)
Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya
(2010)Vsemirnoe torzhestvo pamyati (Worldwide celebration of memory)
Neprikosnovennyj Zapas
(2005)- et al.
Predstavleniya molodyozhi o strane epokhi SSSR (The perceptions of the youth of the country in the era of the USSR)
Sotsiologiya: Metodologiya, Metody i Matematicheskoe Modelirovanie (Sotsiologiya: 4M)
(2008)
Kollektivnaya pamyat' pokolenij (The collective memory of generations)
Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya
Honor, dignity, and collective memory: juding the past in Korea and the United States//culture
Collective memory: why culture Matters
Cited by (19)
A Foundation for Russia? Memories of World War II for Young Russians
2023, Nationalities PapersThe Myth of the Great Patriotic War in Kaliningrad Oblast’
2023, Europe - Asia Studies“Silencing” or “Magnifying” Memories? Stalin’s Repressions and the 1990s in Russian Museums
2023, Problems of Post-CommunismYOUTH AND RECENT PAST OF CHILE: THE (DE) POLITICIZATION AS A POLICY OF EVERYDAY MEMORY
2022, Psicologia e SociedadeRemembering Media and Journalism in Socialist Yugoslavia: Oral History Interviews with Audiences
2022, Prispevki za Novejso Zgodovino