The term "generation gap," understood as a separation or conflict between different generations, first appeared in the 1960s and referred to the ideological and cultural rift between those born after World War II and their parents. This conflict, however, is not a defining feature of our times, but has its roots in the mythical dawn of humanity, where thinkers throughout the ages have attempted to explore and investigate it. The current generation, known as Generation Z, differs significantly from previous generations: this distance is primarily due to the rapid spread of increasingly advanced digital technologies. Today, more than ever, profound reflection is needed to listen, understand, and try to comprehend the world of our children.
But what does “generation” mean?
Conventionally, the term "generation" refers to the group of individuals born and raised in the same period, experiencing the same cultural, social, political, and economic influences. Generations were once defined as "thirty years," assuming roughly three generations occurred in a century, but since the end of World War II, things have changed radically. In Italy (and Europe), the following generations have been identified, briefly described here:
- from 1926 to 1945, the “reconstruction generation”, a protagonist of the post-World War II era. During this period, the urgent need was to start from scratch. The Italy of Peppone and Don Camillo was intensely rural, culturally divided between Catholics and Communists. Immigration from the South to the industrial cities of the North was unstoppable and beneficial to industry;
- from 1946 to 1955, the “engagement generation”, at the center of social battles and cultural transformations that marked the final part of the 20th century. The agricultural crisis began, and many farmers became workers;
- from 1956 to 1965, the “identity generation”, with the rediscovery of a strong ideological and political affiliation. Italy is experiencing a phase of intense development and the emergence of a new sector, the tertiary sector. Unprecedented growth, a period of prosperity and economic prosperity characterize the generation of these years, the Baby Boomers, late adopters of digital technology and pioneers of the first information technologies;
- from 1966 to 1980, the “transition generation”, marked by the transition between two millennia and the recession. The new industrial revolution saw the birth and development of electronics and information technology. Personal computers, cell phones, and the Internet (which would gradually revolutionize the world of work and social relationships) changed communication methods. New generations of digital immigrants with a penchant for new technologies;
- from 1981 to 1995, the “millennial generation” (millennials, or Generation Y), who grew up in the era of the euro and European citizenship. Their communication methods are expanding with instant messaging and social media. They are the social digital natives;
- from 1996 to 2015, the “network generation” (or Generation Z), the true digital natives, interdependent on the web and social media (both negatively and positively), hyperconnected, are the techno-compulsive digital natives.
From Bauman to Galimberti: The Transformation of Today's Society
The current situation was accurately captured by the Polish sociologist and philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, who around 2000 coined the acclaimed definition of "liquid society ," characterized by several distinctive features: the crisis of the state, political parties, and ideologies, unbridled individualism, legal uncertainty, and widespread job insecurity. The sociologist associates the dismantling of old certainties with a "liquid" life, more frenetic and forced to adapt to the attitudes of dominant groups.
In this new and disconcerting dimension, young people, now "old," lost, will have to face a conflict similar to the one they themselves have experienced, generation after generation, in a seemingly endless spiral. Bauman yields to a rather bleak vision of society, a contemporary community that appears flattened, almost amorphous, deprived of the rites of passage that constituted the significant stages of individual growth and marked by disappointments, sacrifices, renunciations, and conquests. A generation better equipped technologically in human history, but also plagued like no other by feelings of insecurity and impotence.
In his book "Young People Have Their Say ," the distinguished philosopher and psychoanalyst Umberto Galimberti highlights the difficulties faced by the younger generations and their sense of inadequacy in modern society. This is a condition that adults struggle to understand, as young people today live in a world completely different from that of their parents. Galimberti emphasizes how previous generations lived in a poor society; the message their families gave their children was one of sacrifice and duty, and the same message was conveyed by society.
Virtual society
Today, families still try to instill the same message in young people, though they believe in it less, while society tells them to have fun, consume, and do what they want. It's a society where the pleasure principle and the virtual prevail. Therefore, a transformation begins with socialization. For the sociologist, the saying "in my day" no longer applies, because "those times" were radically different from today, and we cannot share our experiences with young people: this is the first generation that cannot count on their parents' experience. While adults consider the internet and the web as a world distinct from reality, for the new generations it represents a context in which to grow and express their personality, a middle ground between thought and action, an environment capable of visually realizing images and thoughts.
The widespread use of these technologies can be attributed, in most cases, to a "new normal." A new idea of belonging is emerging, fostering attitudes and approaches that contribute to fueling, modifying, and evolving the virtual world that adults struggle to understand, creating an inevitable cultural divide. If we want to help our children, we must strive to inform ourselves and educate ourselves more on these issues, listening to them in order to understand and appreciate their world.
Rita Bimbatti
Bibliography
- Colla A.,Children versus parents, in Living with Philosophy n.1, February-March 2020, Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan), Sprea Editori
- Galimberti U., A Word to the Young: A Dialogue with the Generation of Active Nihilism, Milan, Feltrinelli, 2018
- ITALIANS Yesterday and Today. Who we are and what unites us after 150 years of history., in Focus Extra n. 48 Winter 2011, Milan, Mondadori
- Guarnaccia E., GENERATION Z. A statistical and phenomenological snapshot of a hyper-technological and hyper-connected generation., Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), 2018
- Lancini M., Zanella T., Internet use in adolescence: normality, dependence, and social withdrawal, in Contemporary Psychology n. 270 NOV.-DEC. 2018, Florence, Giunti
- Schachtner C., I'm online, therefore I am, in Contemporary Psychology n. 221 SEPT.-OCT. 2010, Florence, Giunti
