Aim of the course:

The aim of this course if to present an overview of changing patterns on youth transitions, participation and youth cultures in Russia. This teaching course is designed as introduction to the youth studies in Russia. The main ideas of the course are: (1) to connect the past and present of youth studies in Russia in the context of current social and political processes; (2) to demonstrate new theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of youth in Russia; (3) to show new trends in the empirical studies of youth and current transformations of youth's everyday life, cultures, political aspirations in the global and local context in Russia. Lectures will cover such issues as youth policies, contemporary youth cultures and styles, and civic participation.

The course will be completed in a following way:

1)     By taking part in lectures (3 times) on Wednesdays 8 October and 12 November at 2-6 pm, and on Wednesday 10 December at 12 pm – 6 pm.

2)     By writing a lecture diary (15 pages) in which suggested research literature will be used:

• Pilkington, H, (1994) Russia's Youth and Its Culture, London: Routledge.
• Pilkington, H, Omelchenko, E., Flinn, M., Bludina,U., Starkova, E. (2002) Looking West? Cultural Globalization and Russian Youth Cultures. The Pennsylvania State University Press.
• Konttinen, Jussi (2000) Diskosad andegraund : mitä alakulttuuri viestii?. Tampere: Tampeeren yliopisto.
• Svynarenko A. (2005) Growing to be a citizen: civil society and youth policies in Russian Karelia, in Harri Melin (ed.) Social Structure, Public Space and Civil Society in Karelia, Helsinki: Kikimora.
• Omelchenko E. L., Pilkington H. (2013) Regrounding Youth Cultural Theory (in Post-Socialist Youth Cultural Practice)  Sociology Compass. 2013. Vol. 7. No. 3. P. 208-224. 
• Sabirova, G. (2011) Young Muslim-Tatar Girls of the Big City: Narrative Identities and Discourses on Islam in Postsoviet Russia, Religion, State and Society 2011, № 39(2-3). Р. 327-345.
• Omelchenko, E., Pilkington, H.  and Garifzianova, A. (eds.)   (2010)  Russia’s Skinheads: Exploring and Rethinking Subcultural Lives, London and New York: Routledge

More information on enrolment will be added later.

Course outline

8 October, 2014: Introduction to youth scenes and youth cultures in Russia (Arseniy Snyvarenko)

• Introduction to the course and course themes
• Youth cultures: overview of theories and reflections on their availability in the Russian context
• Empirical examples of youth scenes in the past (e.g. Neformaly in Perestroika) and present

12 November, 2014:  Introduction to youth work and youth policies in Russia (Arseniy Snyvarenko)

• Youth policies in Soviet Union
• Youth policies and youth work in contemporary Russia

10 December, 2014:  From everyday life to political movements: discussion and observations based on recent Russian studies on young people (Guzel Sabirova & Elena Omelchenko)

• Contemporary trends in youth culture in Russia: globalization and identities; body regimes of youth everyday life
• “Odnoklasniki” “V kontakte”: cyber communities, blogging, political and cultural movements online
• Multicultural encounters and tensions: skinheads community in Northern region of Russia, adaptation of children of migrants in Russian schools, young Muslim women in mosques of big city
• Participation and empowerment: youth organizations, youth political and protest movements
• Young female former prisoners: any chances for new life?