Formation of collective identity in Russia: modern state

The article basing on the analysis of recent publications on the subject of collective identity in Russia explores the current state of the problem. The author tried to identify its most difficult and controversial aspects, substantive content, the level of its formation, factors and conditions that contribute to its further spread and consolidation, the role of the state in this process. Despite the fact that since the collapse of the USSR a quarter of the century had passed, the question of the formation of the collective Russian identity has not lost its relevance. The specific feature is the concept of the Russian civic identity. The most controversial issue is the question of the relationship between Russian civic identity with the regional, ethnic and religious ones. An important unifying factor for the Russians is the state; and the important basis for unification and harmonization of multi-ethnic and multi-confessional Russian society is patriotism. The main institution with the purpose to form the Russian collective identity is the education system. The modern society in Russia is characterized as general internal heterogeneity, but provides all the prerequisites for the consolidation.