The ‘lost generation’ of the 2008 crisis: Generational memory and conflict in Spain

Abstract

Since the 2008 crisis, youth unemployment in Southern Europe has hindered a return to social and economic stability: in Spain, the young and unemployed are sometimes referred to as a ‘lost generation’. This article investigates how rampant youth unemployment in Spain has darkened expectations for the country’s future inside the European Union (EU) as well as altered views of the past. Using interviews with jobless young people, the article argues that the severity and duration of the 2008 crisis has prompted historical revisionism. Age cohorts often organise around pivotal events and the article shows how young people have questioned the success of democratisation (1980s) and European integration (1990s), causing a growing rift with their parents’ generation. Finally, it explores generational conflict in Spain through three interconnected experiences of unemployment: returning to live with parents, urban to rural migration for a lower cost of living, and emigration to Northern Europe for employment.