Protest Consciousness and Protest Culture of the Young People of the Russian Far East

Social protest is the cause of conflicts in society. But it also signals unresolved problems and forces the authorities to respond to the demands of society. In the history of Russia, protest has always played a significant role, and extreme radicalism has always been its peculiar feature. The study is based on youth surveys conducted in 2020 and 2024 in the Far East. Two types of protestants were identified in the sample: supporters of peaceful and radical protest. They are carriers of two different types of protest consciousness, including values, ideas, and motives for protest. The author concludes that the youth of the Far East has two types of protest consciousness and protest culture: a peaceful type of protest consciousness and, based on it, peaceful civil protest ("petition culture"); and a radical protest consciousness and, based on it, radical protest ("rebellion culture"). "Petition culture" is associated with an active civic position, interest in politics, participation in legal forms of political and public activities. Its bearers are characterised by such values ​​as justice and equality, freedom and creativity, human rights and the desire for renewal. The culture of radical protest is determined by the subject type of political consciousness, strong negative emotions, strong ethnicity and belief in a threat to one's nationality. It can be noted that the bearers of radical protest consciousness are ambivalent in relation to the forms of protest: they are ready for both peaceful and radical forms. We interpret this as follows: if a subject is ready for more radical forms of protest, then he or she will also accept less radical ones. But bearers of peaceful protest consciousness are ready only to participate in peaceful protest (that's why they are "peaceful"). Radical forms frighten them and are unacceptable to them. According to the results of our study, the "petition culture" is more common in the sample, which means that a dialogue between the authorities and the youth is possible. The work also examines the generational characteristics of the protest consciousness of generations “Y” (or millennials) and “Z” (or centennials).