Youth Protests or Protest Generations? Conceptualizing Differences between Iran’s Contentious Ruptures in the Context of the December 2017 to November 2019 Protests

Abstract In this article, I argue that contentious ruptures in Iran have produced socio-political generations with differing views on political processes and strategic approaches toward contestations. Using a constructivist approach to sociological generations, I argue that the experience of such events creates ruptures that shape the emergence of generations beyond demographic similarities. While the last event to produce major systemic change was the revolutionary generation, later generations had relative success in shaping relations with the state and defining new political strategies. The most recent protest cycle between December 2017 and November 2019 seems to have the capacity of shaping another generation: One that is defined by a greater disillusionment with the state and a strategy of contention defined by a more decentralized and more adversarial approach regarding state institutions. Barring major changes to accommodate this development, the regime may be facing the emergence of a new generational group whose attitudes and strategies could shape politics in Iran for decades to come.