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

by John Della Volpe, David Hogg (Introduction)

Overview

From John Della Volpe, the director of polling at the Harvard Institute of Politics, Fight is an exploration of Gen Z, the issues that matter most to them, and how they will shape the future.

9/11. The war on terror. Hurricane Katrina. The 2008 financial crisis. The housing crisis. The opioid epidemic. Mass school shootings. Global warming. The Trump presidency. COVID-19.

Since they were born, Generation Z (also known as "zoomers")—those born from the late 1990s to early 2000s—have been faced with an onslaught of turmoil, destruction and instability unprecedented in modern history. And it shows: they are more stressed, anxious, and depressed than previous generations, a phenomenon John Della Volpe has documented heavily through decades of meeting with groups of young Americans across the country.

But Gen Z has not buckled under this tremendous weight. On the contrary, they have organized around issues from gun control to racial and environmental justice to economic equity, becoming more politically engaged than their elders, and showing a unique willingness to disrupt the status quo.

In Fight: How Gen Z Is Channeling Their Passion and Fear to Save America, Della Volpe draws on his vast experience to show the largest forces shaping zoomers' lives, the issues they care most about, and how they are—despite older Americans' efforts to label Gen Z as overly sensitive, lazy, and entitled—rising to the unprecedented challenges of their time to take control of their country and our future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250260468
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/18/2022
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	392,610
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

JOHN DELLA VOLPE is the Director of Polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, where he has led the institute’s polling initiatives on understanding American youth since 2000. The Washington Post referred to him as one of the world’s leading authorities on global sentiment, opinion and influence especially among youth and in the age of digital and social media. John appears regularly on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and his research and insights are often found in national media outlets in the U.S. and abroad, including the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. John is also founder and CEO of SocialSphere, a public opinion research firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

AUTHOR’S NOTE
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION
1. UNITED BY FEAR
2. JUST A STUDENT
3. SIX MINUTES IN PARKLAND
4. RIGHT IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY
5. BACKLASH
6. TIP OF THE SPEAR
7. IMPATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
8. ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE
9. I HEAR YOU
10. TO THE FUTURE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES

Editorial Reviews

10/11/2021

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.)

Publishers Weekly

"Perceptive and informative...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." —Publishers Weekly

"A provocative pleasure for demography geeks and political trend-watchers." —Kirkus Reviews

"Scrupulously documented." —Booklist

"A compelling, comprehensive, and intensely readable roadmap for why Gen Z is so angry at the political reality they've inherited—and why they're stepping up to stop their parents and grandparents' generations from destroying their future...urgent, essential reading. It'll put you in a fighting mood—and give you hope for a better tomorrow." —Charlotte Alter, Senior Correspondent, TIME, and author of The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For

"John brings the numbers to life as we ride alongside a generation forever altered by the Trump era but committed to creating a better America for everyone." —Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough

"Despite his Gen. X status, there's no one I'd rather read on the rise of Zoomers and their determination to save America...Even the most cynical Boomer will walk away from John's authoritative and essential read on our next generation of leaders feeling hopeful about the arc of the moral universe." —Jacqueline Alemany, The Washington Post, politics reporter and Power Up anchor

"A deep dive into the Gen Z voter’s brain that provides the reader with a detailed understanding of what issues have become supremely important—especially in light of the 2020 election. It shows this generation’s complexity as individuals, not just as a voting bloc." —Stephanie Ruhle, MSNBC Anchor, NBC News Senior Business Correspondent

"With prescience and clarity, John reveals the emergence of a generation that is changing the world.” — Valerie Biden-Owens, New York Times bestselling author of Growing Up Biden

"America is at a critical turning point. This extraordinary book about our most important generation is required reading—for inspiration and hope. They can save us, and only they will." —Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership, Harvard Law School

"John Della Volpe is without peer in his study of young voters. It shows in Fight, a meticulous, engaging account of how Gen Z voters are trying to change American politics. Read it if you care about the country’s future." —Janet Hook, national political analyst

"The definitive account of America's next great generation. Raised in the shadow of war, during a period of economic decline and technological leaps, Zoomers are mad as hell and uniquely equipped to force positive and enduring change. If you want to know what America looks like in 2050 and 2099, it starts with Generation Z." —Ron Fournier, bestselling author of Love That Boy

"A great read with a tremendous amount of learning for anyone in the business of marketing, selling, or otherwise engaging with the most exciting generation in decades, or perhaps ever...Della Volpe's narrative broadened my mind and was hard to put down." —John Reid, President, Live Nation EMEA

"From climate change to racial justice, this generation has put its collective foot down and demanded change. More than that, they are taking responsibility for it. It’s an exciting and encouraging chapter in the American experiment and Fight captures that and the implications of it." —Deval Patrick, Former Governor of Massachusetts

"An amazing contribution and beautifully written. While so many analysts and social scientists are obsessed with partisan polarization, John has really focused on probably the more consequential polarization that will define the country." —James N. Druckman, Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science and Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.

"An outstanding piece of scholarship, which sets out in brilliant color how Gen Z have become politically active and begun to reshape American politics." —Professor James Sloam, PhD, Department of Politics & International Relations, Royal Holloway (University of London)

"Engrossing....At a time of so much division and hopelessness, it is encouraging to learn of Generation Z’s enthusiasm for tackling the powerful inequities that limit our people and endanger our world." —Dr. Nicholas Covino, President, William James College

From the Publisher

2021-10-26
There are big changes coming to American politics, courtesy of Generation Z.

Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Institute of Politics, notes that members of Gen Z—those born between roughly 1995 and 2015—are “the most diverse and most educated…in history.” Their numbers, at about 70 million, are now larger than the baby boomer generation. The diversity comes in several flavors: They are ethnically diverse, with an uptick in the numbers of multiracial people; they are less bound to binaries than people of the past, with fewer than 80% identifying as heterosexual; and their sense of history is different from that of the boomers and Gen Xers. The oldest of them were scarcely in school on 9/11, and they “have never known their country at peace.” All of this contributes to a generational ethos in which “Zoomers” are concerned with economic equity, curbing gun violence, relaxing laws concerning drugs, forgiving student debt, and a host of other issues on which, say, the GOP is not likely to endorse their views. On that note, Della Volpe observes, there’s a reason that young people aligned with the superannuated Bernie Sanders, who gave voice to their views: “Bernie’s politics are 90 percent targeted to younger people.” The Zoomers boosted the Democrats to a majority in the House in 2018, and, adds Della Volpe, “if voting were capped at age twenty-nine, meaning only Gen Z and the youngest millennials could participate, Joe Biden would have won ten times more electoral votes than Trump in 2020.” This suggests that politicians would be wise to devote their energies to attending to the interests of the young cohort. As the author concludes, their political tendencies will define the future of the nation, for all the efforts of their foes to suppress their vote.

A provocative pleasure for demography geeks and political trend-watchers.

Kirkus Reviews