The Factor of Russia's Foreign Policy in the Patriotic Attitudes of Siberian Students at the Present Stage

10.54398/1818510Х_2023_1_74

Annotation

Today, the voice of those who support the foreign policy of the Russian government get louder, as well as those who condemn it, although, to a lesser extent. There is not much information about what the regional youth thinks about Russia's foreign policy at the present stage, especially after the recent adoption of the legal norms of administrative and criminal law. Based on the materials of a survey conducted among high school students in the Siberian Federal District, the author concludes that the consciousness of schoolchildren in grades 9-11 can be characterized by features of both “blind” and “constructive” patriotism. The younger the person, the higher the possibility that they share the values of blind patriotism. On the contrary, the higher the grade, the higher the likelihood of a student to be more critical of patriotism. Thus, the patriotism switches to civic and (or) hybrid type. However, the special military operation launched by Russia in Ukraine in 2022 has changed the course of affairs. Since at present time, according to the survey, the number of supporters of the foreign policy pursued by the Russian Federation has increased compared to the 2020 results, the attitude towards certain patriotic attitudes has also undergone transformations. For example, in 2022, respondents began to identify themselves as Russians more often. They trust public authorities more, as well as consider themselves patriots and feel proud of their country. Nevertheless, if we consider the patriotic attitudes of students through the prism of their support and non-support of Russia's foreign policy, things become ambiguous. On the one hand, a polarization of the school community takes place, and on the other, there is a trend to escape from answering the difficult questions, and from politics at all.

Keywords

• patriotism
• youth
• foreign policy
• patriotic values
• patriotic attitudes
• survey
• identity
• blind patriotism
• constructive patriotism
• schoolchildren
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Acknowledgments

the text of the article has been prepared within the framework of the project “The patriotic education as a factor of the civic identity formation of senior students in Siberian Federal District regions in the information-oriented society”, RFBR grant No. 20-011-00346

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