Conceptualization of the youth as a relevant issue in social science

The study focuses on the conceptualization of the youth at the present stage of the social science development. An objective instability and ambiguous determination of this concept require the constant scientific monitoring involving different theoretical and methodological approaches. The analysis of the literature on the youth issues shows that the specific features of the youth concept can be described with the help of a sociocultural approach that has an integrative nature and reviews the society as a social and cultural unity generated by human activity. The research on cultural and value systems of young people provides insight into their features constructing youth as a part of society. The author reviews the youth as a special segment of culture emerging in a specific historical environment under the influence of social, political, cultural, and economic factors. The research describes the reproductive, translational, and innovative functions of the youth in the creation of public interaction standards and the construction of social reality.