Social capital and civic participation of young people: the case of the Vologda oblast

Issues related to social capital have recently been increasingly raised by the scientific community. In this regard, studies of the connection of social capital with various areas of human and social life are becoming relevant. This article examines the phenomenon of civic participation and its connection to social capital. Based on the research of the Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, we study the young population of the Vologda Oblast under the age of 30. We have analyzed the structure of social capital of young people in the Vologda Oblast, studied the attitude of young people to persons engaged in social activities, as well as their willingness to participate in such activities. We also considered the experience of young people participation in collective action as an initiator, as well as the experience of providing gratuitous assistance to people other than close relatives, and the attitudes of the Vologda Oblast young people toward participation in formalized/institutionalized forms of public and political life. The work has found that civic participation and social capital are connected in a certain way; in all examined cases, people with a high level of social capital are more likely to show civic participation. The article concludes by suggesting the importance of developing a new type of behavior among young people in which social capital will be accumulated in a purposeful way. This is justified both by the importance of social capital itself, and by its connection with civic participation which is a necessary attribute for the formation of civil society.