ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates on the impact of intergenerational tensions in political developments in present-day Russia and discusses the impact of generational changes on the country's political trajectory. The post-Soviet generation, which grew up in the turbulent 1990s, reached adolescence in the 2000s, when the Russian regime was enjoying a high degree of public support thanks to steady economic growth. However, despite these positive trends, the most ambitious representatives of the new generation found limited opportunities for upward mobility, given the rise of crony capitalism and electoral authoritarianism in Russia. Unlike the romantic-ideological sixtiers and the pragmatic-cynical seventiers, the post-Soviet generation perceived its role rather sceptically with regard to both the status quo in Russia and Western political and economic models. The generation change among the opposition greatly contributed to a 'negative consensus' against the political status quo.
