Millennials of the Postmodern age. Will the New Generation Change the World

Abstract

Recently, a generation of millennials — those who were born on the eve of the millennium and should soon supposedly enter active politics at various hierarchical levels — have been attracting increasing attention. Whether millennials can change this world is a controversial question.  In particular, it is the subject of one of the projects of the international expert community "European Dialogue". Such studies typically implement two priori settings: (a) are referring to changes for the better based on the positive qualities of the millennial generation; b) such changes and perspectives can be described as universal trends implemented "over" differences of political cultures and regimes. Our text allows itself to doubt this.  Millennials are going into active politics in two columns, one of which is the bearer of the same political and socio-economic reaction, the "values" of political cynicism and careerism, diktat and pressure.  What this can lead to can be understood only by considering the process in process — the movement of these groups on a more general and also moving postmodern civilizational platform.  At the same time, "millennials of the postmodern era" should be considered, referring to two conceptual schemes: "postmodernity — postmodern — postmodernism" and "Modern — postmodernism — post-postmodernism".  For Russia, this is all the more important because it found itself at the mercy of a particular kind of hybrid: the sprout of the inexhaustible Modern with its craving for a totally organized order and extreme political postmodernism, based on the simulation of freedom and natural spontaneity. The ideological trends of "New Enlightenment" and "New Middle Ages" are already tearing apart the fabric of the most active social consciousness.  Resolution of this collision in the spirit of Super Modern Age may be a matter of survival for the country.