Abstract
A title conveys its intended reader. Those hoping to understand the youngest officially identified generation—Gen Z—will be grateful for Gen Z, Explained: The Art of Living in a Digital Age. Katz, Ogilvie, Shaw, and Woodhead—all university professors—acknowledge their collective fondness of this generation. With respect and compassion, they approach their research from the perspective of their disciplines: anthropology, linguistics, history, and sociology, respectively. The authors believe that this generation can “teach us [to] be real, know who you are, be responsible for your well-being, support your friends, open up institutions to the talents of the many not the few, embrace diversity, make the world kinder, live by your values.” These qualities predict “even more significant social changes could occur as members of this generation move further into adulthood and the public sphere” (p. 5). Reason enough for anyone leading a social institution, such as the church, to take notice.
The research reveals how digital communication, something this generation has known their whole life, weaves through all of Gen Z’s relationships, whether formal or casual. With the number of references to key terms and platforms and phrases, one might argue that the authors could have shortened their book by half through a simple dictionary. However, such a structure would minimize the storytelling aspect of being human and how Gen Z practices humanness through digital means.
For Gen Z, human-ness fits within a digitized framework. “Gen Zers prefer texting and messaging to email because texts and messages are short and hold the promise of an instant response . . . Many Gen Zers can efficiently ‘diarize’ their time, managing it for ultimate convenience” (p. 23). Older generations may argue that there is more to life and relationships than instant response and convenience, but Gen Zers won’t hear this possibility without relationships, and communication is key in relationships. This book seeks to strengthen communication toward the end of understanding.
Understanding can also offer the foundation for communication. Gen Z hold extensively detailed identities. “The internet especially facilitates the continued refining of identities” (p. 44). This shows up most profoundly around gender and sexuality. The authors briefly illustrate how gender conversations began in the eighteenth century, reminding us of how we got to this point. “ . . . the interviewees articulated a sometimes exasperated, sometimes proud, but definitely heartfelt need to educate their elders” (p. 52). Encompassing race, ethnicity, class, and religion, Gen Z conceives of the ability to articulate identity in fine-grain detail. As the authors point out, Identity is intimately tied to the notion of authenticity . . . being clear and authentic as you speak your truth involves having fine-grained identity markers that signal to yourself and others who you really are. If you cannot say who you are, you are not really free to be, and if others do not know who you are, they are inhibited from expressing their identities, too. (p. 89)
Identity and expression grow through online communities of like-minded people, creating a sense of belonging. Should one’s identity change, they feel free to move to another “belonging” group.
The meat of the book begins with chapter 5—OK Boomer. Perhaps I found this chapter most engaging because it references this generation in relationship to the audience for whom this book is written. Whether one is a boomer or not, this chapter shows how Gen Zers engage the social structures of the past, to whatever extent those structures still exist. The failure of the post-war family structure and religious institutions to offer the stable life they promised encourages Gen Zers to look to one another to find their way for the future. “The steady belief in progress that was the backdrop to boomer life, and especially boomer activism, has withered” (p. 154).
Gen Zers express a strong sense of inheriting institutional forms that are broken or incapable of solving the enormous problems the world is facing without significant change. They are therefore interested in reinventing the ways and means of effecting change and living their daily lives. (p. 157)
The greatest problem this generation faces in reaching its goal comes in navigating the commitment to the authentic individual along with working collaboratively toward a shared goal which may require some negotiation or compromise. Can older generations work collaboratively with GenZers toward striking this balance? Can the theology of the Beloved Community or the Body of Christ help us all?
This book is a little tedious in its definitions. Where it really shines is how engaging with social platforms shapes the thinking of this generation and highlighting how this is different from generations before. Hopefully, those who read it will feel strengthened to develop one-to-one relationships with people in this demographic . . . for the sake of our shared humanity.