Youth of a Nation

I’ve put aside my graduate research into youth movements and the media, to watch the real thing.

Sitting in my university library, my back to the musty, Cold-War-smelling books. In front of me is a computer, opened to about 50 Firefox tabs. I can’t imagine that I’m alone in this setup. Students have a well-deserved reputation for fanning this type of revolutionary flame. And while, at 30, I might be teetering on the “youth” line, my circumstances have pushed me into mind-bendingly meta territory.

See, I study people like myself, right now. Like you, reading this. Like the kids we’re watching in Iran. There’s a magical alchemy in the interrelationships between mass movements, the era’s available media, and the effects of both on authoritarian regimes. I’ve felt for many years that it’s an understudied intersection. Aside from well-documented conflagrations in the past, the traditional media and its consumers have dismissed the political outlook and motivations of younger people.

There’s a disconnect: the stirrings and grumblings of young folks are seen as generic, transient rebelliousness; but when that discontent flares into revolt, people seem surprised.

And even now, the whole Iran-media thing is viewed as a sudden trend—Twitter Is Upon Us.

But passionate kids have always reached for whatever alternative media is there. This time, we just happen to have one that works better than The Media.

Tehran’s Green Zone

Flickr user DD/MM/YYYY:

“My frustration was that if we wait for the time to be right, it will never come and be less likely to be able to come.

“From Valiasr to Vanak, to Parkway and on to Tajrish the roads were filled with people showing peace signs and marching in silence. “Your hands are your slogan”, said those with fingers on their lips, occasionally hushing the crowd.

“It was an incredible feeling seeing a sea of people and hearing only a quiet hum of voices.”

photo uploaded to Flickr by DD/MM/YYYY

News Isn’t Dead.

Have you ever seen this in your home?

No?

That’s because you live in a free country, and someone else has done your fighting for you.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Human Rights Watch

Committee to Protect Journalists

Freedom House

Reporters Without Borders

International Crisis Group

Amnesty International

Tehran Protests

I’ve been tangentially following public opinion in Iran for a few years now, an offshoot of the whole International Affairs grad-school-immersion thing.

While the area isn’t my specialty, its demographic situation is fascinating. I’m particularly interested in countries that have seen, or have potential to see, large youth movements. Two-thirds of Iran’s population is under 25, born since the Revolution in 1979. What perspective does that enormous cohort have on the clerics who choose their country’s path—and therefore, their futures?

Is that what we’re seeing now?

There have been stirrings of frustration for some time. Economic and political freedoms are going to matter more to the young, who have less to lose in conflicts like this, and more to gain from social change. People who a month ago might have denied any interest in protesting the government, find themselves turned into ideological soldiers.

It becomes a question of what they are armed with, psychologically speaking; and how much their opponents still recognize their humanity.

When conservatives in any country target the media itself, attempting to break the free movement of information, it can make citizens who remember recent moves towards modernization wonder what they will lose next. This goes double for those old enough to remember the Westernization tendencies of the Shah.

The Iranian people might choose conservatism for the same set of reasons that many societies do—feelings of nationalist pride, a desire to protect or advance their traditional culture, a perception of outside threat. And I do agree that the belligerence of the U.S. towards Iran in recent years may be married to Iran’s choice of President–a mutual relationship.

But the Iranian people have to decide for themselves if attempting to stay still, or move counter to modernization, is really in their best interests. Can a compromise be struck between preserving their distinct culture, and their young population’s needs for new opportunities? I’m afraid the kids are having their say right now…I am afraid of the answer they’ll receive.

Some alternative perspectives…

BBC’s Iran Elections Special Report page

Fark.com’s latest Iran thread

Sadly, No!’s Iran post

Huffington Post Liveblogging

photo uploaded to Flickr by .faramarz

This summer…

Sarajevo and a new computer.

photo uploaded to Flickr by the catalyst…