Young People in Post-Communist Russia and Eastern Europe

The primary goal of this study is to analyze the position of youth in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Part One sets the scene by examining the legacy of totalitarianism and the difficulties experienced in making a transition to Western-style liberal democracy, on the one hand and the impact of the latter on the status of youth in contemporary Russia. This includes a detailed analysis of young people, their health, intellectual development, socio-economic status, crime patterns, attitudes towards politics, present preoccupations and thoughts about the future. The second section discusses how youth issues have been opened up for public scrutiny, topics such as alcoholism, drug-abuse, AIDS and crime are now openly debated in the mass media. The political setting in which current youth policy in the former Soviet Union (FSU) and East-central Europe (ECE) is taking shape is traced in this study. The chapter concludes by discussing possible future directions for post-Communist states - Americanization, Europeanization, Russification, Orientalization - and by examining the likely impact this will have on the value orientation of and offical attitudes towards youth in the FSU and ECE. The fourth chapter traces the government response to the youth question which involves and analysis of the main parameters of youth policy in Russia and the constraints on the implementation of effective policy and decision-making in this sphere. Subsequent chapters deal with the immediate role and future of the youth organization in former Russian and Eastern Europe in terms of cultural and spiritual consequences of the clash between old Communist collective values and the rise of individualism as a result of Russia's transition to capitalism.