Ethnic identity of Dagestan youth: dynamics and content

The last decades of the last century were marked by destructive phenomena in the interethnic sphere, so it is natural to study the transformations taking place in this area. A special place in  the national sphere is occupied by ethnic identity, the forms of its existence (positive/negative), because they directly affect the nature of personal communication, form an interethnic climate, and provide stability.  The analysis of indicators of reproduction of the ethnic identity of the young generation of Dagestanis shows the priority of the signs of the national language, ethno-culture and religion. It was found that  the native language is of little importance for the surveyed Russian population, despite its importance for the rest of the surveyed ethnic formations. The author's hypothesis about the significance of the historical component and historical memory for the reproduction of both ethnic and Russian identities was not confirmed by the results of the study, in comparison with other markers, less in demand in the mass consciousness of Dagestan youth. The "control question" shows a change in the importance of integrators – "being a representative of your people" consists in knowing and following the national traditions and customs of your people with a significantly smaller proportion of those who designated the indicator "national language". Such a position in the attitudes of the interviewed Dagestani youth is due to the transformation of their linguistic consciousness and linguistic behavior, which clearly indicates destructive tendencies in the ethno-linguistic sphere.

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