The UNESCO Courier - Volume 2021, Issue 2, 2021

Soaring unemployment, distance learning in conditions that are often difficult, feelings of isolation, a return to domestic work for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. In a country where almost half the population is under 25, young people are paying a disproportionately heavy price during the health crisis.

Is Generation Z inward-looking and not interested in politics? This is a common misconception, says French sociologist and political scientist Anne Muxel. The Director of Research at CNRS, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CEVIPOF-Sciences Po) – who specializes in the relationship between young people and politics – describes a generation that is committed and resilient, as it lives through the pandemic.

For the new generation, changing the world means saving the planet, above all. They are proclaiming this loud and clear – on social networks, in the streets or through civic disobedience movements, such as school strikes. The scale of the worldwide mobilization of under-25s is commensurate with the urgency of the environmental challenges we face.

It is easy to believe that young people, born in the digital age, would naturally be better equipped with the necessary skills to use new technologies. Beyond the cliché, however, the reality is much more complex. The ability of the younger generation to master new digital tools depends very much on their socioeconomic backgrounds and family environment.

Unheard of until recently, the profession of influencer is enjoying growing success on the continent. Eager to acquire a young and connected clientele, companies are now eyeing the most popular of these new social media celebrities.

Juggling jobs comes naturally to these city dwellers, who are educated, well-travelled, and at ease with digital technologies. Slashers, unlike earlier generations, do not hesitate to try their hand at different professions and careers – all at the same time. Following their dreams, these young people are quick to acquire new skills – whether it is painting murals or playing ancient instruments, hip-hop dancing or creating fashion – and share them via social media.

In the space of two decades, young people have moved away from traditional media – television, radio, print – to digital media. But beyond the change of format, it is their whole relationship to information that has changed. Latin America is a good example of this move towards a more social, interactive and responsive web.

Hopping from one social network to another, young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region now get their information from YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. To be able to distinguish between reliable information and fake news while navigating this flood of information, it is urgent to develop critical thinking.

While large parts of the cultural sector have come to a grinding halt due to the pandemic, K-pop – the South Korean music genre that’s become a global phenomenon – has continued to flourish.

It’s a pleasure that much of the world has been deprived of for many months. The pleasure of entering a cinema – slipping in between rows of seats, and letting the darkness envelope you, as you gaze fondly at the big screen, to immerse yourself into a story.

Literary plots have long been connected to conspiracy theories, which are, in essence, acts of the imagination. But these fictitious notions – often created under the guise of making sense of the world around us – can sometimes have very real, even tragic, consequences on our lives, the author explains.

Situations of societal crises may trigger conspiracy thinking in some individuals, but this does not fully explain the flourishing of conspiracy theories. The existence of an antagonistic outgroup that is deeply distrusted and despised often provides a convenient scapegoat during societal upheavals such as a pandemic, a terrorist strike, or a lost election, the author argues.

A leading figure on the Haitian literary scene, Yanick Lahens discusses her work. Inspired by the popular and vibrant culture of her country, it is a far cry from the usual miserable clichés that abound. Through her singular and poetic stories, she also recounts the history of the world’s first Black Republic, which is both “a product of modernity and a response to this modernity”.

By the end of the century, around half of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken in the world today could disappear, according to the 2021 UNESCO World Report of Languages: Towards a Global Assessment Framework for Linguistic Diversity, released in May.