Resilience in the Narratives of Creative Youth in the North Caucasus: The Example of Pyatigorsk and Nalchik
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2026.4.3103Keywords:
resilience, creative youth, North Caucasus, locality, rootedness, resilience strategiesAbstract
The article presents a study of resilience strategies of creative youth in the North Caucasus using the example of Pyatigorsk and Nalchik. The theoretical framework of the study combines a processual understanding of resilience with an interpretation of locality as a subjectively constructed connection to place, allowing for an analysis of the resilience of creative youth in relation to the spatial context of small towns, where locality serves not as a constraint but as a resource. The empirical base of the study consists of 20 interviews with creative youth aged 18–35. An analysis of the narratives revealed that resilience is not a static characteristic, but a dynamic process constructed through the interaction of individual strategies and the local context. The authors identify four key types of resilience narratives: as a return to the pre-crisis state; as social integration; as controlled uncertainty ("safe uncertainty"); and as a lack of stability as a characteristic of modernity. Resilience is realized through the following models: individualistic (reliance on internal resources), networked (social connections and networks), hybrid (combining creative and non-creative employment), and local (embeddedness in cultural heritage and the urban environment). The main finding of the study is the close relationship between resilience, creativity, and locality. Despite structural limitations (underdeveloped infrastructure, lack of support), creative young people find resources for self-realization and the development of their cities by consciously choosing a strategy of embeddedness.
Acknowledgments. The study was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Science Foundation within the framework of the project of the Center for Youth Studies of the HSE University, St. Petersburg “Resilience and creative potential of the youth of the North Caucasian region in the context of educational and labor migration”. The authors express their gratitude to the staff of the Center for Youth Studies who participated in collecting empirical materials.
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