The articles of the collection consider the semantic composition of the concept of "generation" and the boundaries of its applicability in the empirical work of a historian, demographer, sociologist. The "problem of generations," analyzed in this collection, is included in the specific conditions of delayed or delayed modernization, blocked social promotion, primarily on the example of Russia in the 19th - 20th centuries. In addition, the authors of the collection consider the values ​ ​ and attitudes of young generations of Russian society at the present moment and in time dynamics. The book is interdisciplinary in nature, it analyzes the data of social history, the results of sociological surveys, biographical sources, literary texts.