The national heritage of the USSR in young people’s views in the North Caucasus

Abstract

The article reviews the representations of youth of the North Caucasus of the Soviet national-state heritage and national policy, and their role in the formation of Russian identity. The goal is to study ideas of young people about the Soviet historical heritage, and to determine the similarities and differences in the ideas of the youth of the Russian and Caucasian peoples about Soviet identity and values and the national policy of the USSR. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is made up of main approaches and concepts of foreign and Russian scholars of the problem of the formation of civil nations and the role of ideas about the historical in the formation of national-state identity. The empirical basis is sociological research consisting of ideas and views of young people in the North Caucasus in the field of Soviet historical heritage. It can be assumed that the role of ideas about the Soviet era in the formation of the national-state identity of modern youth in the North Caucasus is important for the majority of respondents. A number of traditional values of the Soviet era, such as a respect for the person of labor, social equality, and the comprehensive development of the individual guaranteed by the state are still important for today’s youth. Most young people do not remember the achievements and shortcomings of the Soviet nationality policy in the region. In general, the study with a high degree of probability indicates that that Soviet national-state heritage is an important factor in the formation of the identity of the modern youth of the North Caucasus. The harmonization of interethnic relations and the formation of interethnic harmony among young people are largely determined by their attitudes to the Soviet historical heritage. Further work in forming a single conceptual basis for the policy of historical memory for a multiethnic region is still necessary, as is more consistency in the work of government bodies for its implementation. Representations of history should be of a consolidating nature, contributing to the formation of historical continuity and general guidelines for the national identity of young people.