The Millennial Generational Style: New Global Political and Economic Orientations

Year 2022, Issue: 65, 29 - 46, 15.06.2022

Neslihan Kevser Çevik

https://doi.org/10.26650/JECS2021-978819

Abstract

In this paper, using Mannheim, I identify Millennials (covering both Gen Y and Gen Z) as a global generation that has spawned a new generational style. I provide a brief overview of the historical conditions that have shaped Millennials’ life experiences. In a nutshell, Millennials have come of age in a new world marked by an ongoing shift in actorhood from macro structures to micro agents. I argue that this formative experience has impelled at least three meaningful norms that distinguish Millennials’ generational style: self-reliance, quotidianism and regeneration. I then trace manifestations of these norms in politics and the economy. I suggest that in politics, the push for self-reliance takes the form of a self-responsible citizen, quotidianism is manifested through a shift towards politics of the ordinary, and regeneration is embodied in Do-it-Yourself (DIY) politics. In economics , on the other hand, the self-reliant actorhood is reflected through the new occupational profile of the ‘maker’, quotidianism is expressed through non-traditional types of work monetizing individuality and personality, and finally regeneration takes the form of critical making. I conclude with implications for social theory on youth and change. The paper attempts to move beyond the dichotomous view of youth either as threats or as heroic figures and propose a broader conceptualization of young adult’s agency to capture how ordinary youth create new centers of configuration in society, from new citizenship norms to new market patterns.

Keywords

Millennials, passion economy, Generation Z, Mannheim, Generational Style

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