Logotyp: till Försvarshögskolans hemsida

Generation z and the silent generation are two sociological defined groups that have experienced and lived through different societies. The silent generation was born between 1928-1945 and generation z was born between the years 1997-2012. The aim of this thesis is to explore political engagement in Sweden between those two groups when they both were in their youth. Political engagement in this thesis will be explained by a theoretical distribution of political engagement called civic and political participation by Erik Amnå and Joakim Ekman. This distribution divides political engagement in different categories such as social involvement, civic engagement, formal political participation and extra-parliamentary political participation.

The method to reach the results were qualitative interviews with eight people from both generations, four from the silent generation and four from generation z. The results presented were divided based on the theoretical distribution of political engagement.

The conclusion in this thesis finds that generation z is more politically engaged through social involvement, civic engagement and extra-parliamentary political participation. The silent generation however was more engaged in formal political participation. One reason is individualistic and collective participation. Generation z tends to be more individualistic in their engagement through digital actions. The silent generation on the other side was more collectivistic through their engagement in formal ways such as political parties, unions and other structures. Another reason for this difference is that generation z has access to digital media such as social media which makes it easier to be engaged in a broader sense.