Radicalism and Extremism in the Russian Youth Environment in the Context of Excessive Social Inequalities

The purpose of the article is a sociological analysis of excessive social inequalities in Russian society as a subjective factor of radicalism and extremism among young people. The author of the article believes that despite the significant theoretical background and sociological information, radicalism and extremism in the Russian youth environment actualizes the analytical potential of the subject-activity approach. The theoretical problem is that radicalism and extremism are phenomena of social consciousness and social behavior of young people, contain a procedure for "transfering" attitudes to excessive social inequalities, such as social injustice, into a state of social dissatisfaction and generate the effects of social deprivation, uncertainty in the future, and social aggression. The consequence can be considered the choice of extremist behavioral strategies focused on conflict with society and the state, the legitimation of social violence, as a way to achieve social justice. As the author notes, although 2-2.5 % of young Russians express readiness for extremist actions, the social risk is that, being the “core,” young extremists use radicalist sentiments in the youth environment and present themselves as fighters for social justice. As a consequence, and this is the dominant conclusion of the article, groups of young Russians who sympathize with extremists are formed, although with favorable social indicators, but who do not trust government and public institutions, focusing on extremists as a group with a high degree of negative social mobilization. Thus, excessive social inequalities, being a socially significant problem in the youth environment, increase the level of risks of radicalism and extremism, as expressing the negative attitude of young people to the social realities of Russian society.