The study of youth associations of the late Soviet and early post-Soviet periods is relevant, because it was then their system based on the dominance of state youth organizations led by the Komsomol, was transformed into a new one, where the role and influence of informal associations were  increasing. Th e informal ones were more responding to the real needs of youth. The purpose of this article is to analyze, systematize and periodize the works of Russian scientists devoted to youth organizations of the 1980s and 1990s in Russia, followed by a description of the identified stages of historiography. To achieve the purpose of the research, the following methods are used: historical and chronological, which allows for the author’s periodization of literature, historical and comparative, aimed at comparing the assessments of organizations by scientists, and historical and systematic, necessary for the generalization of the studied material. In the course of the study was noted a combination of historical and sociological methods in the works of scientists. The author points out terminological discrepancies in the analyzed literature and there is no single criterion for attribution to youth. Th e author identifies four stages of historiography: the late Soviet “pre-perestroika” period (1980–1985), the historiography of the “perestroika” period (1985–1991), the early post-Soviet period (1992–1998), and the modern period (1998-present). Th ese periods differ in the degree of politicization and the thematic vector of research. The author draws conclusions about the prerequisites for the creation and specifics of scientific papers within each period.