Youth Communities: On the Concept Conceptualization

Abstract

Youth communities represent an independent and significant object of interdisciplinary research in the modern socio-political context. The empirical and theoretical material accumulated in science demonstrates a variety of interpretations and approaches to the study of this phenomenon. The article provides a theoretical analysis of the community and youth community concepts in order to conceptualize the latter. This work focuses on the socio-political projection of the phenomenon under consideration. The research presented below is based on deductive logic — from the definition of the generic concept of community to the consideration of youth communities as its varieties, defined on the basis of the category of their participants — representatives of youth as a socio-demographic group. The generalization of the interpretations presented in the scientific literature makes it possible to define the youth community as a form of social organization of youth representatives who are united by values and interests, have relatively stable social ties and interact with each other to achieve common goals. The main characteristics of youth communities are: common interests, goals, values; a well-formed sense of belonging among community members; the presence of a communicative environment and joint activities; self-organization and horizontal connections. It can be concluded that the key differentiating feature of the youth community is the deep emotional involvement of the participants and the value-semantic community, which goes far beyond instrumental goals or formal obligations. The activities of youth communities are aimed at the socialization, spiritual, moral, personal and professional development of young people, their psychological and professional adaptation.