Fight: How Gen Z Is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America

Della Volpe, the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, debuts with a perceptive and informative survey of the motivations and values of Generation Z. Drawing on the annual “youth poll” he has conducted since 2000, Della Volpe explains how Americans born in the mid-1990s have been galvanized to political action by school shootings, economic uncertainty, and climate change. Young Americans have already pushed the country in a more progressive direction, according to Della Volpe, who notes the political rise of Bernie Sanders and companies’ eagerness to respond to the “values and market potential of Gen Z.” Documenting the rise of the “March for Our Lives” movement after the 2018 Parkland school shooting, Della Volpe paints a vivid picture of the mental strain gun violence has placed on America’s youth. He also explores how the increase in racial harassment and violence in the Trump era cemented Gen Z’s antiracist values, and forecasts that the age group’s political ideals will lead to agricultural reforms, greater civic participation in the U.S., and more emphasis placed on “social wealth and capital,” rather than economic success. Abundant statistical evidence and insightful analysis buttress Della Volpe's optimistic view that Gen Z can help lead America to a brighter future. This is the rare sociological study that manages to inspire. (Jan.)