Youth Activism, Attitudes and Ideology in Russia and China

Session Submission Type: Created Panel

Session Description

The papers of this panel contribute to our understanding of the role of youth in Russian and Chinese politics and society. Two papers on contemporary Russia analyze the role of Russian youth in recent protests, and the attitudes of Russian youth towards the Russian state, the West, and political values. Two other papers on China investigate the relationship between Chinese youth at the Communist Party-State in the 1950s, and the left-wing turn in contemporary activism among Chinese students. The papers use original empirical data from participant observation in online forums, analysis of everyday life through texts and diaries, surveys, and statistical data to make original insights into the role of this often understudied population in contemporary Russian and Chinese politics.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 13: The Politics of Communist and Former Communist Countries

Individual Presentations

• Geography of Anti-Corruption Protests in Russia - Olena Nikolayenko, Fordham University

• Youth in Eastern Europe: Transnationalism and Political Attitudes - Gwendolyn Sasse, University of Oxford

• Chinese Youth in the 1950s: Everyday Life on the Road to Socialism - Zheng Haolan, Keio University

• The State and Left-Wing Student Activism in Xi Jinping’s China - Jiacheng Ren, University at Albany, State University of New York; Cheng Chen, SUNY, Albany

Chair

• Barbara Ann Chotiner University of Alabama

Discussant

• Ellen Carnaghan Saint Louis University