Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Title
Generational Politics in the United States
Publication Date
2024
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11621506
Abstract
(Excerpt)
Bob Dylan’s famous song lyric, capturing the spirit of the 1960s, is just as apropos today: “The times they are a changin’” (1964). The civil rights movement changed history by securing legislation and court decisions advancing the constitutional rights of black people (Dalton 2008, 7). The movement took flight at a time when the Baby Boomer generation was politically active and seeking social change. As outlined in the introduction to this book, the generations and their birth years are as follows: Silents (1925–45); Baby Boomers (1946–64); Gen X (1965–80); Millennials (1981–95); and Gen Z (1996–2013). Baby Boomers “experienced the height of the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1968, where African Americans and other allies fought to end institutionalized racial discrimination, segregation, and disenfranchisement” (CFI 2021). Although some of the leaders of the civil rights movement were born prior to 1946 (for example, Rosa Parks was born in 1913), nevertheless, the Boomer generation supplied momentum and gravitas for this movement.
Political movements often are fueled by young adults, and the civil rights movement and the climate movement are no different. As observed by Laura Stoker (chap. 2, this volume), young adults, those in late adolescence to early adulthood, are in the most “impressionable years” of their life cycle. During these impressionable years, young adults are more likely to define themselves politically.
The civil rights movement and the climate movement were populated by different generations. In contrast with the Baby Boomers in the former, the Millennials and Generation Z are the galvanizing, media-grabbing activists for the climate movement. These generations have grown up in very different time periods, with the digital age affecting the younger generations. Although the climate movement has been in existence for several decades, it has risen to prominence only recently. Those promoting the goals of the climate movement and who are gaining media attention range in age from teenagers to college students and recent graduates. These activists fall into the categories of the Millennial generation and Generation Z.
Comments
This publication is from Chapter 8 of Generational Politics in the United States, edited by Sally Friedman and David Schultz (University of Michigan Press, 2024).