printImaginary Horizons of the Future. Life Orientations and Migration Plans of the Youth of the North-West Region of Russia
Omel’chenko E.L.
Dr. Sci. (Soc.), Prof., Head of the Center for Youth Studies at the National Research University High School of Economics in St. Petersburg, Russia eomelchenko@hse.ru
The research was supported by grant No. 21-18-00122 of RSF, https://rscf.ru/en/project/21-18-00122/
Omel’chenko E.L. Imaginary Horizons of the Future. Life Orientations and Migration Plans of the Youth of the North-West Region of Russia. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2023. No 12. P. 121-135
The article contributes to the discussions on the life strategies and migration plans of young people in a temporal perspective using the example of a study of young people in the northwestern region of Russia. Attention is drawn to the changes in values and perceptions of the future by young Russians in the context of recent geopolitical challenges and turbulences, with a focus on the search for more sustainable and externally influenced factors. The article expands the contexts of the discussion, includes stories related to the migration intentions of young people in the context of vital choices, shifts the focus from theoretical and analytical analysis of different approaches to life strategies to the specifics of making important decisions by young people in everyday life, and introduces a temporal dimension to the discussion related to the specifics of the project in 2021 and 2022. The analysis of the current discussion of the topic together with the data of the project devoted to the migration plans of young people in the North-West region of Russia allows to continue the discussion. The introduction of the time perspective contributes to the discussions around life strategies, to the understanding of current transformations in young people’s perceptions of their life prospects and the life of society in the real-time.
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