Deconstructing Generations: Concluding Remarks

• Published in: The American behavioral scientist (Beverly Hills) 2019-10, Vol.63 (11), p.1578-1596
• Main Author: della Porta, Donatella
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activism; Concepts; Demonstrations & protests; Meaning; Millennials; Mobilization; Organizational structure; Perceptions; Self concept; Self evaluation; Social movements; Taste; Women; Womens rights; Youth; Youth movements
• ISSN: 0002-7642; 1552-3381
• DOI: 10.1177/0002764219831742

This concluding article of the special issues summarizes the empirical results presented in the previous contributions within a comparative perspective, with particular attention to locate them within previous research on youth mobilizations. From the theoretical point of view, the articles, based on the research conducted in the context of the CRY_OUT project, have tried to bridge some concepts in youth studies and social movement studies. Using the concept of generations in a critical way, we have in fact aimed at deconstructing it by looking at the meaning given to generations by movement activists, to their self-perception in terms of generational identification, as well as their taste in terms of contentious frames and practices. Empirically, we have addressed, in particular, the mobilization of Millennials in anti-austerity protests on issues such as labor and also women’s and gender rights, antiracism, environmental protests, and alternative cultural and/or recreational initiatives. Focusing on Europe, we have chosen some paradigmatic cases of protests in the United Kingdom, Southern European Italy and Spain, and Eastern European Poland. In light of the theoretical questions presented in the introduction, this article addresses, in turn, the conceptions of generations in movements, the self-assessment by Millennials, as well as some characteristics of their mobilizations in terms of organizational structures, repertories of action, and collective framing.