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THE IMAGE OF SCIENCE IN THE VIEWS OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIMENSIONS // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2020. Issue 4 (26). P. 194-213

The article is devoted to the main features of young scientists' views about science in the conditions of transformation of the social and cultural environment of modern cities. In the context of implementing "smart cities" projects, it is vital to consider not only the issues of their technological equipment but, first of all, the formation of a distinctive social and cultural scientific environment. The author notes that semiotic effects of both self-presentation of science in one's environment and presentation and representation of this sphere in society have a significant impact on the formation of images of science perception. Especially among young scientists who, due to their age, remain representatives of a particular group of society, but also begin to identify themselves consciously as members of the professional scientific community. It is up to young scientists to build a "visual anthropology" and shape the future space of modern cities. It is noted that the most important role in the formation of public ideas about science is played by the channels of popularization and scientific communication, the development of which in recent years allows us to talk about the communication space in which young scientists form their ideas. The article presents the results of a sociological study conducted in 2019 among the scientific youth of the Central and Siberian districts, designed to identify how the youngest cohort of scientific youth (from 18 to 35 years old) “sees” science, how it perceives its role in its living space, how the image of science in Russia is characterized for them, whether its image is attractive or not. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is a political-psychological approach included formalized interviews and the method of unfinished sentences. The interview materials were subjected to quantitative processing and qualitative analysis. In accordance with the political-psychological approach, the content of young scientists' ideas about science was examined, their cognitive complexity and emotional sign were determined. The study showed the importance of significant judgments and stereotypes, as well as motivational attitudes and professional requests of this group in the context of individual large branches of scientific knowledge. It is concluded that the formation of the living space of a «smart» city is impossible without the development of human capital, serious work with young scientists (including socio-humanities) who will participate in the formation of a full-fledged urban infrastructure of knowledge in a meaningful way, and develop the sociocultural role of science as a certain type of specific activity in the formation of the living environment of cities.

Keywords: «Smart» city, science, young scientists, sociocultural, political-psychological approach

THE IMAGE OF RUSSIA IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE CIVIC CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE YOUTH: A VISUAL DIMENSION // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2021. Issue 2 (28). P. 110-129

The article examines the psychological and sociopolitical features of Russia’s young generation, which determine the characteristics, ways and means of forming the civic consciousness of the youth. The category “civic consciousness” is understood as a complex of value, cognitive, reflexive, motivational and emotional characteristics of a person that determine their stable and conscious self-identification as a citizen and are expressed in a person’s relationship with the state and society. The structural and substantive characteristics of the image of Russia in the minds of young people are given from the standpoints of the theory of political perception and developments of political psychologists in the field of studying the political consciousness of young people, various aspects of the theory of identity in terms of understanding civic identity as the basis of the political self-determination of the individual. The image of Russia, which is a complex of ideas about it as a country and a state, the modern youth has is explored in its visual dimension through young people’s drawings representing their ideas about Russia in the form of images. The study used the projective drawing technique “Russia in the form of a house”, which, like any other similar diagnostic technique, aims at identifying deep and poorly perceived features of the perception of the surrounding reality and oneself in the world. The main focus is on the semantic content of the plots presented in the drawings, their symbolic content, the emotional sign of the images. Data were generalized according to the parameters of the cognitive complexity and congruence of the images. The target group of the study consisted of young Russian citizens aged 15 to 30 within three age groups – 15 to 17, 18 to 23, and 24 to 30 years. In the course of the study, 540 drawings were collected and analyzed (180 drawings by respondents of each age group) in Moscow and St. Petersburg, in Krasnodar and Primorsky krais, in Moscow, Tver, Lipetsk, Omsk oblasts, in the Republics of Crimea and North Ossetia-Alania (at least 50 drawings in each region). Based on the results of the study, the authors identify general tendencies of the perception of the country, which determine the civic identity of young people, and the distinctiveness of the image of Russia in different age groups in the structure of the younger generation. Several interrelated directions (outlines) of structuring the image of their country are also described, including different aspects of young Russians’ ideas about Russia: personal-emotional, power-state, civilizational. The authors note that great difficulties in the development of civic identity are manifested in the younger age group of the studied Russians. The analysis of the image of the country in the structure of the civic consciousness of youth based on visual data, particularly materials of projective drawings, made it possible to confirm the existence of the dependence of civic identity on how the young correlate themselves with the perceived community – Russia as a sociocultural and political entity. The conclusion is made that the use of visual methods in youth research seems to be promising, including due to the specific “clip” nature of the youth’s perception of the sociopolitical reality and the significant role of visual means in the youth’s communication in the social environment and the virtual space.

Keywords: image of Russia, civic consciousness of youth, millennial generation (Y), homeland generation (Z), civic identity, political and psychological approach, visual methods