By AD/Chris van Mersbergen
Jan 15, 2024 at 3:57 PM
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The very young new French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is only 34, and therefore a full-blooded millennial. But one swallow does not make a summer: millennials are struggling to put aside the ruling power. Perhaps they are too sweet for the tough world of politics, experts note. ‘Millennials find it difficult to open their mouths. While that is also necessary.’
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Sure, every now and then one pops up; a new, young star in the firmament. Gabriel Attal is one of them. The Parisian is only 34, but was appointed prime minister last week by French President Emmanuel Macron. A millennial at the center of power. If you start looking, you will discover that they are otherwise quite rare.
Now the question is when you consider someone a millennial. The definition is often used that someone was born between 1980 and 2000. But, says Aart Bontekoning, social psychologist and ‘generation expert’, a real millennial is born after 1985. And there are very few of them in the positions that really matter.
Now you can rightly argue that gaining (life) experience is not unimportant before you start a tough, responsible position. But there is also something else going on, experts note: millennials are having difficulty working their way up in the strongholds that have been shaped by the generations before them, such as politics. And if they succeed, it is often because they copy the behavior of older people, and not because they bring the change of a new, young generation.
‘They find it difficult to open their mouths’
Generation expert Bontekoning investigated the dynamics between young people and their older colleagues in dozens of organizations. And it was precisely that last observation that struck him: that millennials, with their open minds and new ideas about diversity and work-life balance, are often not the breath of fresh air you expect. “On the one hand, it is because organizations are stuck,” says Bontekoning. “Elderly people may want to be different, but they cannot do it. While they do have to help the millennials. On the other hand, I have to conclude: millennials find it difficult to open their mouths. While that is also necessary. But they are often too sweet.”
Also Jasper Scholten, author of The millennial mystery, senses cold feet about entering the political arena. He partly blames this on “a collective, unhealthy testosterone and estrogen level,” as he puts it. In other words: “Many millennials are underpowered.” According to Scholten, they also suffer from a ‘Calimero feeling’. “Thoughts like: can I do it? And a kind of resignation. Like: I see so much injustice in the world, I’m not going to change that on my own.”
Additionally, millennials also tend to be “self-centered,” Scholten says. A position at the top also means showing commitment and giving up freedoms. “If you really want something, you can no longer just go surfing in Costa Rica, combined with a few hours of work on your laptop. Millennials often want to contribute to society, but above all they also want to have a good life themselves. That’s annoying.”
Scholten and Bontekoning also note that ‘politics’ is not in a good position among young people. Scholten: “In the Netherlands, all the affairs in recent years, and the way in which Mark Rutte dealt with them as prime minister, have not done any good for confidence in politics. This generation finds authenticity very important, and they do not see that reflected in politics. So they prefer to do something else.”
Rob Jetten. Photo: Jeroen Meuwsen
The examples are there
In addition to the new French Prime Minister, there are millennials in top political positions. In our own country we have Jesse Klaver (1986) and Rob Jetten (1987), who is now even deputy Prime Minister for a while due to the departure of D66 party member Sigrid Kaag. In Austria, Sabastian Kurz (1986) became chancellor at the age of 31, but he died due to corruption suspicions.
In the United States, left-wing politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (1989), elected in 2019 as the youngest female member of Congress ever, has been making a name for herself for a few years now. Chile has a president, Gabriel Boric, who was born in 1986.
And then there are a number of well-known reserve millennials, born between 1980 and 1985. For example, Sanna Marin (1985), who was Prime Minister of Finland until last year and made the news with behavior that is quite normal for a young woman, but for a leader of a country that is less average. Jacinda Ardern (1980) received worldwide praise for the way she handled the terrorist attack in Christchurch and the corona pandemic as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland until last year. Photo: Belga
Ardern and Marin both brought a breath of fresh air in their own way. Both their relatively young age and their womanhood were striking. They brought diversity to the global roster of presidents and prime ministers, where old men like Biden, Trump, Putin and Erdogan dominate. The young French Prime Minister Attal, young and openly gay, also contributes to this diversity.
The male norm and online hate
Liza Mügge, a political scientist specialized in diversity at the University of Amsterdam, says that the background of a political leader influences the content of his or her policy. “Lived experience, as we call it, has an effect on someone’s behavior as a political leader, research shows.”
All those millennals, who grew up in a completely different world than the generations before them, could therefore ensure a different policy. But that is not easy, says Mügge. “Women in leading political positions often conform to the male norm. And instead of being appreciated for their womanhood, they have to prove themselves twice.”
Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand until last year. Photo: Getty Images
In any case, young women in public positions face increasing online hatred, says Mügge. “Especially women of color. Sylvana Simons was a great role model for many of them, but they also saw what she had to deal with. In recent years you have seen that politics has become more diverse, but my suspicion is that this has passed its peak is over. The resistance, under the guise of anti-woke, is fierce, and that has consequences.”
It is a forecast that will not make many millennials happy, Scholten suspects. “In general, they feel much more at home in the middle, they like a sense of solidarity, equality, looking for solutions together. So this new generation can really provide some more peace in society. We could use that.”
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2024-01-15 14:57:16
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