INTERETHNIC INTERACTION IN THE YOUTH ENVIRONMENT AT PRESENT STAGE: HISTORICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECT

In the 1990s, after the USSR collapse, during a period of spiritual vacuum, the Russian society turned out to be open and unprotected from the challenges connected with global problems of humanity. During this period, the rise of ethno-cultural traditions takes place in the regions of the country. Post-Soviet Russia becomes involved in intensive migration processes as well. All this actively affected the formation of new interethnic relations, in which the younger generation of the Russian Federation citizens became active participants. In this regard, the aim of the work is to study interethnic interaction among young people in various regions of Russia in order to prevent possible conflicts and to take preventive measures. Materials and methods. The article is prepared on the basis of sociological surveys conducted in 2022–2023 in the territory of 5 subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as on the basis of research literature. The survey was conducted among young people aged 18–30 years, taking into account the sociological sample and focus groups (anonymous survey, N = 1624). Results. Among the main results of the study, the main trends that have emerged should be singled out: the process of assimilation influence from the Russian ethnic group is observed in the regions; when describing their nationality, in some cases there are mixed answers, which indicates a complex identity of young people; for the majority of respondents, national identity is a fairly significant factor in life; most respondents are tolerant to marriage with representatives of various ethnic groups; the main part of the surveyed youth is familiar with their national culture. Given a favorable interethnic situation, the expert community expressed concern about preserving ethnic culture among young people. According to expert opinion, young people know their national roots quite superficially; for the new generation national languages are becoming colloquial with significant mixing with the Russian language; ignorance of their history among young people leads to a large amount of falsification of facts, including in the field of ethnography. Conclusions. The obtained information of a historical and sociological nature made it possible to study interethnic interaction among young people in the territory of 5 republics of Russia. Among the main results of the conducted research, the main trends that have emerged should be singled out: the process of assimilation influence from the Russian ethnic group is observed in the regions; for the majority of respondents, national identity is a fairly significant factor in life; most of the respondents are familiar with their national culture, etc. Given a favorable interethnic situation, the expert community expressed concern about preserving ethnic culture among young people.