91st Book Week 2026: My Generation (2)

From boomer to zoomer and everything in between: every generation stands on the shoulders of the previous one. The perfect place to push off. Because *your* generation decides for itself what makes a book good and which language touches you. That interplay constantly breathes new life into literature. That is why the theme of the 91st Book Week is: My Generation. Do you know the definitions of the different generations? And to which generation do you belong? Book Week will be held from March 11 to 22, 2026.

Generations

In a sociological sense, a generation is a category of people born within the same period, for example, of fifteen years. This is also known as a birth cohort. Furthermore, a generation is characterized by shared traits that can dominate individual differences. In essence, new generations are innovators of a culture, the collective intelligence of a social system, such as organizations, associations, and political parties. New generations ensure that social systems keep up with the times, or in other words, new generations drive the evolution of social systems.

Over the past two centuries, countless philosophers, sociologists, and historians have written about the subject, including Leopold von Ranke (1824 and 1854), Emil Durkheim (1893), Karl Mannheim (1928), José Ortega y Gasset (1914 and 1948), Julián Marías (1970), Henk Becker (1992), and William Strauss & Neil Howe (1991).[2] Their interpretations lead to the following definition of the connectedness between contemporaries:

1. They share a life history, shared circumstances, and the shared influence and experience of the spirit of the times. The spirit of the times influences, for example, the upbringing children receive.
2. They share a response to the zeitgeist, based on the ability to sense where the (work) environment is in need of renewal. They want to express themselves spontaneously through new, vital additions to an (organizational) culture. Spontaneous interaction between contemporaries strengthens generational formation.
3. They have a shared destiny that manifests itself in a shared mental, emotional, and physical development and attitude (a collective talent development).

 

Division

From a sociological perspective, the most recent Western generations are classified in numerous different ways. An example is the generational model by Henk Becker (1992), which divides generations into the pre-war generation (1910-1925), the silent generation (1925-1940), the protest generation (1940-1955), the lost generation (1955-1970), the pragmatic generation (1970-1985), and the boundless generation (1985-2000). This model is primarily used for the Dutch situation. A sociological classification purely by time is also possible: one then speaks of the generation of the 60s or of the 70s, et cetera; classification by birth cohort (such as 1986 or 1990, et cetera) is also possible. Another widely accepted classification (which applies primarily to the American situation, but is used by the general public in many Western countries) is mentioned below. Another widely accepted classification is the Strauss-Howe generation theory, which runs from 1433 to 2029 and divides this period into seven major groups, subsequently subdividing these into 26 generations.

 

Lost Generation

The Lost Generation was the demographic cohort in the Western world that reached young adulthood during World War I. The term 'Lost Generation' was first used by Gertrude Stein for a group of American writers who resided in Paris during the period between the world wars. The generation is generally defined as people born between 1883 and 1900, and was followed by the Greatest Generation (1901–1927).

These contemporaries grew up in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution, in societies that were more oriented towards consumption and media than ever before, yet still adhered to strictly conservative social norms. Young men of the cohort were mobilized en masse for the First World War, and many perished. Young women contributed to and were influenced by the war. In its aftermath, they gained greater political and other freedoms. The Lost Generation was vulnerable to the Spanish flu pandemic and became the driving force behind many cultural changes, particularly in the major cities during what became known as the Roaring Twenties. Later, they experienced the economic consequences of the crisis of the 1930s and often saw their own sons leave for the battlefields of the Second World War.

 

Largest Generation

The Greatest Generation (GI Generation), or the “World War II Generation,” is the Western demographic cohort following the Lost Generation and preceding the Silent Generation. The generation is generally defined as people born between 1901 and 1927. They were shaped by the crisis of the 1930s and were the primary generation that actively experienced World War II. Most people in the Greatest Generation are the parents of the Silent Generation and the Baby Boomers. The name likely dates back to 1953, when American General James Van Fleet referred to the war generation as “The Greatest Generation” in the U.S. Congress.

 

Silent Generation

The Silent Generation, also known as the Traditionalist Generation, is the Western demographic cohort following the Greatest Generation and preceding the Baby Boomers. The generation is generally defined as people born between 1928 and 1945.

Due to the crisis of the 1930s and the Second World War, people had fewer children, making the generation relatively small. It is the generation that fought during the Korean War. The Silent Generation is sometimes characterized as rather conformist and traditionalist, the so-called “silent majority.” On the other hand, they also led the civil rights movement in the US and the counterculture of the 1960s, and it was they who created the rock and roll music of the 1950s and 1960s. As young adults, they experienced times of rising prosperity, faced economic turmoil in middle age, and enjoyed relative comfort in later life.

 

Baby boomers

The baby boom is the wave of births that occurred in many Western European countries and the United States shortly after the end of World War II, between approximately 1945 and 1955.[1] The euphoria surrounding the liberation led many people to start families. A baby boom also occurred in Belgium and the Netherlands, particularly in 1946 and 1947, but significantly more children were born in the following twenty years as well than in the periods before and after (see figure with the absolute number of children born; however, the birth rate was also higher). Incidentally, the baby boom concerns a temporary revival of the birth rate, which has been declining since 1880. At the beginning of the 21st century, the baby boom still has major consequences for the composition of the population. For instance, many Western countries are struggling with an aging population, which puts pressure on the financing of social security systems in those countries.

People born between approximately 1945 and 1955 are generally referred to as (baby) boomers. This generation shares a number of common experiences. They grew up after the Silent Generation (1928-1945), during the post-war reconstruction period when prosperity increased for the first time in many years, and went to university during the turbulent period between 1965 and 1975. This resulted in a so-called youth bulge; a relatively large younger generation. Because young people generally think more progressively than older generations and often distance themselves from them, progressive ideas gained wider acceptance. Examples include:

• the sexual revolution
• the hippie movement, flower power
• de-pillarization and secularization
• riots such as the student revolts, refusal to conscript, criticism of domestic and international politics
• a political 'shift to the left', increase in the influence of progressive parties
• an increase in non-traditional student associations and the number of non-members at the expense of corporations and traditional student associations. As a result, many formerly single-sex corporations merged (out of necessity).

 

Generation X

Generation X is the generation born after the Baby Boomer generation and the Lost Generation (1955-1965), which is unknown in the Anglo-Saxon world (and therefore missing from the graph), and before Generation Y (the Millennials). This group roughly comprises people born between 1965 and 1980. The generation born during the transitional period between Generation X and Generation Y—the years around 1980—are called Xennials, a portmanteau of Generation X and Millennials. Because generations gradually shift and overlap, no exact boundaries can be given for these periods. Depending on the field and the cultural history of the country, other classifications are also used.

In demography, the birth years 1955–1970 are used for Generation X. Between generations X and Y (1970–1980) lies an intermediate generation known as the pragmatic generation. The later part of this therefore also falls under the Xennials. For convenience, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) uses periods of 5 years (birth cohorts), which are combined by others into generations with an appropriate name. Generation X grew up in the transitional period between the analog and the digital era. This generation lived in the time of automation and digitization, when computers already existed but there was no internet or social media yet. People still made calls using analog telephones, while the smartphone had yet to be invented.

 

Millennials

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are a demographic generation following Generation X. According to a popular American generational classification, Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996, although various sources vary between 1977 as the earliest birth year and 2004 as the latest. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the period 1985–2000 is often used for Generation Y. Millennials were born roughly from the early 80s up to the new (current) millennium (the year 2000). There is no consensus on the exact birth years. Many definitions are based on the life cycle of the population of the United States. Outside the Anglo-Saxon world, generations are sometimes classified differently due to societal differences.

The term Millennials was introduced by American historians Neil Howe and William Strauss. They use the birth years 1982 to 2004 and base their classification on turning points in American history. The generation born around the rise of neoliberalism was given the name Millennials by them, because the oldest members were expected to leave high school around the turn of the millennium. Within organizational management and marketing, this group also often includes people who entered the workforce as young adults around the year 2000 after completing their studies. This new generation of graduates was born starting in 1977.

The oldest Millennials have the peculiarity of coming of age around the beginning of the new (the current) millennium. In many cases, the youngest Millennials will not have consciously experienced the transition to the current millennium. However, something that *all* Millennials have experienced is the rise of various types of digital applications, such as mobile phones and social media. Yet, there are significant differences here as well. For instance, older Millennials were introduced to social media on PCs and laptops, and mobile phones were primarily intended for making calls and texting, whereas younger Millennials came of age with apps on smartphones.

 

Generation Z

Generation Z, also known as Gen Z or Zoomers, is a demographic generation following Generation Y (the Millennials). The American Pew Research Center defines the generation as the people born between 1997 and 2012. Other demographers opt for a different period that starts and/or ends slightly earlier. People from Generation Z are also referred to as Zoomers. Generation Z typically uses the internet from a young age and integrates the use of computer programs, apps, and social media into their lives. According to the Institute for the Dutch Language, this generation grew up familiar with the large amounts of digital data around us and is therefore also called the i-generation or Generation Einstein.

Generation Z typically uses the internet from a young age and integrates the use of computer programs, apps, and social media into their lives. According to the Institute for the Dutch Language, this generation grew up with and is familiar with the large amounts of digital data around us, and is therefore also referred to as the i-generation or Generation Einstein.

 

Generation Alpha

Generation Alpha (Gen Alpha) is the demographic generation that follows Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use this term for individuals born between 2010 and 2025. Named after the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Generation Alpha is the first to be born entirely in the 21st century. Most members of Generation Alpha are the children of millennials.

Generation Alpha was born at a time when, in many parts of the world, people are having fewer children than before. Generation Alpha actively experienced the COVID-19 pandemic as children. Generation Alpha also has much greater access to entertainment and communication than previous generations through devices such as computers and smartphones; however, interest in traditional television is steadily declining. The ever-increasing use of electronics in teaching methods has created a significant difference between the education of this generation and that of previous generations. Research suggests that health problems related to screen time, allergens, and obesity have become increasingly prevalent since the late 2010s.

 

<strong> More info: </strong>

Book Week 2026: https://www.hebban.nl/boekenweek

Free 229 museum visit on March 22, 2026: https://www.museum.nl/nl/boekenweek

Hendrik Groen: https://www.meulenhoff.nl/auteur/hendrik-groen

Doortje Smithuijsen: https://www.doortjesmithuijsen.nl/

Previous Book Week blogs: https://www.postzegelblog.nl/tag/boekenweek/