The role of regional identity in the structure of collective identities of the student youth of the Republic of Mordovia

Abstract

This article studies the structure of collective identities of modern student youth. The subject of the authors’ scientific interest is the role of regional identity in the structure of collective identities of young people in the Republic of Mordovia. The specifics of regional identity as a form of collective identification, its mobility, contextuality, heterogeneity, latency, productivity, and collective genesis are considered in detail. The priority of purposeful construction of positive regional identity as an effective tool for the preservation and development of human capital at the regional level is substantiated. The methodological framework of the study is based on the works by V. A. Tishkov, V. A. Yadov, and M. P. Krylov. The empirical basis of the study includes the data from a mass survey of student youth in the Republic of Mordovia (2020, questionnaire, quota sample, n = 414). Based on the collected empirical material, the regional component of students’ collective identity is comprehensively analyzed. According to the data obtained, identification with the regional community belongs to the identities of the modal level. Only a third (32%) of the surveyed students have a positive regional identity, while the majority of young people in Mordovia identify themselves with the region only nominally. The pronounced emotional component of regional identity is mostly characteristic of the representatives of the titular (Mordovian) nationality. The authors emphasize that in this case, the merging of ethnic and regional identities does not have any conflict potential, because the majority of the respondents perceive Mordovia as a full-fledged subject of the Russian Federation. The conclusion is made about the necessity of diversifying “image projects” in order to build a positive image of the republic among young people.