Social Identity Of The North Caucasus Youth: Dynamics And Risks Of Conflict

The article considers the value content of the social identity of the multi-ethnic North Caucasus youth, the priority of the all-Russian, ethnic, confessional, and regional identity, and the risks of conflict between these identities. The empirical basis of the study was the results of sociological surveys conducted by the authors in 2020 and 2021. The identity of a modern young person has a multi-component hierarchical character. In general, for the regional youth, regardless of ethnicity and religion, the role of traditional values is declining. The remaining value differences due to ethnicity can become a trigger for conflict among youth. The all-Russian identity is a priority for young people, while regional and ethnic identities are no less significant. Among the main factors that determine the risks of identity conflict among the region's polyethnic youth, one should single out the system of dual identities traditional for the North Caucasian peoples. The risks of politicization of ethnicity and further ethnicization of politics, destructive influence of global network communities are remains. The problems are also the increasing inequality in the distribution of basic facilities between young people, which is also ethnic in nature, social dislocation and frustration of young people, as well as the dynamics and direction of ethnomigration processes in the region. It is necessary to further transfer the attention of young people from the political and ideological to the socio-cultural aspects of interethnic relations, the formation of the main all-Russian spiritual and moral values among polyethnic youth.