GENERATION Z: TEENAGERS IN THE VORTEX OF FLUIDITY. CONSTRUCTING IDENTITY IN LATE MODERNITY

Abstract

Generation Z has been born and raised entirely in the 21st century. It has experienced the economic and health crisis, political instability, and the breakdown of peace throughout the world. It has therefore felt insecurity and fear throughout its life. At the same time, “zoomers” have been brought up with the means of digital technology and it seems unimaginable for them to live without a smartphone and internet connection! All these living conditions which share lack of socialization, have been a subversive process in the lives of today’s teenagers. When there is no stable framework and security in everyday life, people are trapped in the vortex of fluidity with negative consequences, both for themselves and for their society. Furthermore, the possibility of multiple lifestyle choices, i.e., the unconditional participation in the consumer culture, contributes to the formation of the identity of young people in modern society. In this way, material goods disorient young people from the special nature of values and responsibility for fellow human beings, since everything is perceived as expendable. Thus, human sociability is dissolved and social cohesion is affected with the simultaneous increase of individualism. It is, therefore, particularly difficult nowadays for a Generation Z teenager to build his identity in the complex landscape of late modernity. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the problem of identity creation, as well as to highlight the institutional frameworks that can support adolescents in their endeavor, such as family, school and religion.