Belarusian Young People’s Identity. A Comparative Analysis of the Two Field Research Campaigns in 2012–2014 and 2020–2022.

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2022-2/257-265

Abstract

The article presents the results of comparative analysis of the data obtained in the course of two ethno–sociological surveys conducted in the youth environment in one of the regions of Belarus – the Grodno Region. These researches are part of larger international projects "On the Border with the EU Countries: Ethno–cultural Strategies of Young People in the Grodno and Kaliningrad Regions" (2012–2014) and "Longitudinal Research Experience of Identity and Life Strategy of Young People in the Kaliningrad and Grodno Regions" (2020–2022), carried out by teams of ethnologists of the Center for Research of Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, supported by two scientific funds: the Belarusian Foundation for Basic Research and the Russian  Foundation for Basic Research. The aim of the projects was a comparative study of the dynamics of identity development and life strategies of young people in the territories bordering with the countries of the European Union in two countries: Russia and Belarus. The following were chosen as the main parameters determining the ethno-cultural orientations of young people during the surveys: first, ethnic self-identification; second, linguistic identification; third, identification based on images of their native land; fourth, youth strategies in transmitting ethnic experience to subsequent generations. A number of regularities related to the ethno-cultural attitudes of young people were established and conclusions were made about the increasing dominance of civic identity over ethnic identity.