Patriotic youth organizations of the “Two Altais”: current state and development patterns

The article is devoted to the analysis of the spectrum of youth patriotic organizations in the Altai Territory and the Altai Republic. Based on the data of the mass survey of schoolchildren in 8-11 grades conducted in the fall of 2020, adolescents show a low assessment of the role of these organizations in the formation of patriotism and little involvement in their activities. The study of the main directions of the functioning of existing patriotic organizations made it possible to conclude that military sports organizations are predominant among them engaged in the preparation of young men for the army and the propaganda of the power-militaristic version of patriotism. Against their background a much smaller share of the spectrum is taken by search teams and museums at schools and other organizations. The trend of increasing importance in the regions of the departments of resource-secured all-Russian movements “Russian Movement of Schoolchildren” and “Unarmia” was highlighted. Their projects cover all the main areas of patriotic work with young people, which leads to the absorption of RMSh and Unarmia of previously created patriotic organizations (primarily in educational institutions) or the establishment of partnerships with them. On the basis of the comparative analysis of the structure of patriotic organizations of the Two Altais, its identity was established, with a higher percentage of youth participation and the intensity of influence on it in the national republic. It was concluded that the modern patriotic organizations of the studied regions are not able to have a significant impact on the studying youth in view of their small number and limited possibilities of mass mobilization. It is noted that in practice, the existing spectrum of patriotic organizations covers primarily young men from small towns and rural areas, only fragmentally attracting the remaining segments of the student youth.