ABSTRACT
One of the consequences of the rapid social changes going on in the counI tries of the “West” and in the former socialist countries is that on the threshold of the new millennium the future of these societies is difficult to predict. The aim of this book is to uncover some of the particular features of the future by describing and interpreting the opinions, values, norms, beliefs, fears and hopes expressed by young people living in two contrastI ing societies: Finland and Russia. The authors of this book believe that studying young people is indispensable if we wish to assess the future prospects of the two societies. They also think that the future is constructed by people, not totally freely but within a framework made up of particular structural and cultural restraints imposed on human actions. Within this context it can with certainty be said that it is young people who will be constructing their societies in the third millennium.
