Social Identity Of The North Caucasus Youth: Dynamics And Risks Of Conflict

Values of young people's the social identity

Reveal the significance for young people of traditional and modern value bases of social identity, depending on ethnic and confessional affiliation.

Dynamics of the priority of the all-Russian, ethnic, confessional and regional identity

Based on data from sociological surveys in 2020 and 2021 establish the dynamics of the priority of the all-Russian, ethnic, confessional and regional identity of the youth of the North Caucasus, depending on ethnic and confessional affiliation.

Risks of identity conflict

Assessing the risks of identity conflict in multi-ethnic youth communities of the North Caucasus in the context of exogenous and endogenous factors affecting the region.

Qualitative research methodology

The identity reflects the ability of a person to comprehend himself and his place in the world in the process of correlating with others, allowing us to make multidimensional mapping of the world, which is in constant motion, to determine our place in this world and the places of others. Rothman defines group identities as self-perceptions filled with a "cultural formula". The cultural formula assumes reliance on group values, needs and preferences, while identities are a source of controversy and can catalyse conflicts. The conflicting parties may perceive themselves as “separated maximisers”, feel themselves to be carriers of multiple identities, or be part of a collective whole and come into conflict at the intergroup level. Identity becomes the ideological basis of the participants in the conflict, filled with individual and group values (Rothman & Alberstein, 2013). The multidimensionality of the category "identity" makes it possible to reflect the totality of modern nonlinear sociocultural processes taking place in different social times for different communities. Identity allows you to make a conceptual synthesis of value and rationally motivated foundations of human social activity. It enables one to connect individual and collective sections of social experience, fix the state and at the same time reflect the dynamics of a person's ideas about his place in the world and about "I" (Semenenko, 2017).

In the formation of identity, both the state and the change in public sentiment are reflected. Self-identification involves reflection on socio-cultural practices and political actions. The rapidly changing individualizing society of "liquid modernity" is characterized by the denial of previous forms of sociality, and avoidance of responsibility, which erodes family, ethnic and national identity. According to Bauman (2000), nowadays in increasingly short supply: “Patterns, codes and rules to which one could conform, which one could select as stable orientation points and by which one could subsequently let oneself be guided” (p. 61). As Huntington (2004) writes: “Modernization, economic development, urbanization, and globalization have led people to rethink their identities and redefine them in narrow, more intimate communal terms. Subnational cultural and regional identities are taking precedence over broader national identities” (p. 205).

The civil (national) component of self-identification is going through the greatest problems in the modern world loses much of its former normative value. National values and symbols are fast disappearings. The image of the "classical" national-territorial state is blurring, increasingly losing its value as the main identification landmark in the eyes of a modern man. The consequences of this are the growth of disintegration processes, the loss of the former internal national unity, and "fragmentation and narrowing of identity". There is a rise in ethnic, racial, gender, religious and civilizational self-awareness, a surge of subnational movements for political recognition, autonomy and independence, an increase in the diasporization of modern societies (migrants remain in the paradigm of their native culture). According to Horowitz (1985): “In divided societies, ethnic conflict is at the center of politics. Ethnic divisions pose challenges to the cohesion of states… Ethnic conflict strains the bonds that sustain civility and is often at the root of violence” (p. 24).

In modern scientific discourse, identity conflicts refer to a sociocultural conflict, the basis of which is the value differences, which are actualized as a result of crises and transformations of identity. Identity-based conflict is value controversies and divergences. Brubaker and Laitin (1998) concluded that the disappearance of ideological confrontation in the modern world and its replacement by large-scale value clashes on the grounds of ethnic and confessional differences. The motivation of parties involved in identity conflicts goes beyond rationally understood interests. They appeal to values, protection of group identities, feelings of ethnic, religious, and other forms of collective loyalty to separate “friends” from “foes”. The likelihood of radicalization of identity conflicts is determined by the presence of security threats, an increase in frustrations and an escalation of social inequality. This may cause open confrontation, the markers of the conflicting parties are ethnic and confessional affiliation. Multiethnic regions with a high degree of ethnization of politics and politicization of ethnicity are characterized by a low level of political stability, the ineffectiveness of the public administration system, growth of corruption and lack of formation of civil institutions (Weber et al., 2016). Ethnic entrepreneurs strengthen the political role of ethnicity and intensify group solidarity by appealing to defensive rhetoric about language, ethnocultural values and identities contributing to steering the conflict of interest towards an identity conflict (Maksic, 2017). In such conflicts, the struggle unfolds not just around material or power problems, but also for the sake of protecting the culture of the group, its status and identity. The majority of ethnopolitical conflicts are based on some kind of irrational principle, hidden in cultural stereotypes, dissatisfied (imaginary and real) historical grievances, and mythologized ideas of participants about each other. The appeal of the parties to the conflict to identification values leads to its axiological irrationalization (Blagojevic, 2009). Ethnicity embodies an element of powerful emotional tension. It can be reactivated if groups are aware of the threat to their interests, which leads to ethnification, ethnic intolerance, competition, and, ultimately, violent conflict.

Quantitative research methodology

The quantitative method allowed the authors of the article to measure the variables that reflect the importance for the youth of the North Caucasus of the main traditional and modern values and group identities (all-Russian, ethnic, religious and regional) and to identify the dependence of the studied variables on ethnic and religious affiliation. The empirical basis of the study was the results of sociological surveys conducted by the authors in 2020 and 2021. The object of the surveys were students aged 18–24 years of the leading universities of the North Caucasus. The sample size was about 1000 respondents. The surveys were conducted online, questions were generated using cloud tools.

Value foundations of identity

The results of empirical research confirm that the youth of the North Caucasus is characterized by a set of identities (all-Russian, ethnic, regional-republican and confessional), which is in dynamic interaction. The most significant issues are the compatibility of these identities, the priority for young people of the common value-semantic foundations of Russian self-consciousness, and the search for historical and cultural ideas that unite all peoples and form the multinational Russian people. In the region, it is possible to implement various models for the development of these identities: from competition and conflict to a harmonious combination based on common values and semantic foundations shared by all.

An important component of the all-Russian identity is the idea of young people about the common past, and the coexistence of different peoples within the framework of a single state. Through the formation of common values, views on life and memories of the historical past, young people form ideas about national-state interests, love for their country and loyalty to the Russian state. For the majority of young people surveyed, a number of traditional Russian values continue to be significant, such as respect for work, a strong state, patriotism, and a traditional family. In general, the importance of the values of religion and collectivism was indicated by a minority of respondents. At the same time, for the peoples of the North Caucasus, the value of religion, the traditional family and collectivism are higher than for the Russian youth. In the value-semantic content of the identity of the youth of the region, regardless of ethnicity and confession, a significant role is played by modern values, such as democracy and human rights, freedom of expression, political freedom and autonomy of the individual, tolerance, individualism and the rights of minorities (Figure 01).

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Importance for young people of all-Russian, ethnic, confessional and regional identities

It can be assumed that modern values become decisive for certain urban youth groups, while traditional values are the most significant for rural youth. Based on this, it is possible to form a conflict environment, strengthening value divisions, which can develop into open conflicts between separate groups of young people. This is confirmed by the opinion of the respondents, the majority of whom (81%), regardless of ethnicity and confession, pointed to the possibility of conflicts among young people between those who share traditional and modern values.

A significant marker of identity is young people's awareness of their connection, and attachment to a particular social community. The most significant for the respondents is the awareness of their connection with their closest relatives and their small homeland. The next most important is the emotional connection with the country, people of their ethnicity and religion, while for representatives of the North Caucasus peoples, awareness of the connection with people of their ethnicity and religion is much more significant than for Russian youth. The significance of ethnic identification for young people who share modern values is declining. At the same time, it is still of great importance for the North Caucasian people. If a negative scenario for the development of the region is realized, this can become an important destabilizing factor. In general, all-Russian identity has formed among the majority of respondents, regardless of ethnicity. Regional, ethnic and religious identity is much more important for the North Caucasus peoples than for Russian youth (figure 02).

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Significant differences in the priorities of ethnic, regional and religious identity between the youth of the North Caucasian peoples and Russians by ethnicity carry the risk of conflict and can provoke the transition of domestic conflicts into local ethnic conflicts.