The American dream has become obsolete for millennials and Gen Z, says sociologist

During the 2024 US presidential race , Canadian sociologist Michèle Lamont interviewed dozens of people in Manchester, New Hampshire, from the group that became key in Donald Trump 's election: young people aged 18 to 30 without a college degree.

The Harvard University professor recounts one interviewee, of Latino origin, who said she was disappointed with the Democratic Party because they were the ones who allowed Haitians and Venezuelans into the United States . Her mother had immigrated to the country and waited years for her green card, and, the sociologist says, the young woman saw the immigration facilitation policies as a kind of cheating.

She seemed to see herself more in the American middle class than among the Latinos trying their luck, as her mother did. It's a practical example, according to Lamont, of the "us versus them" mindset that prevails in the US today.

Lamont has explored the construction of inequality in several books, including "Seeing Others" and "Getting Respect," none of which have been translated in Brazil to date. She is visiting the country this week for the 22nd Brazilian Congress of Sociology, held at the University of São Paulo.

The sociologist says she sees much of what Trump says as an attempt to deepen this divide that divides groups. "He's trying to reshape who's in and who's out," she says. "He penalizes progressive elites, trans people, immigrants. It's a policy of creating hierarchies."

While still on the campaign trail, he used a play on words to doubly criticize then-Democratic candidateKamala Harris : "Kamala is for them/them. Trump is for you," or, Kamala is for them/them and Trump is for you — gender-neutral pronouns are generally used in reference to non-binary people, that is, those who do not identify with the male/female binary.

"I'm interested in thinking about inequality and how it manifests itself through which groups are valued, which are stigmatized, and what the boundaries between the two are," says the researcher. "My focus is on how these boundaries can be transformed."

Lamont challenges theories that, by human nature, we like people who look like us and dislike people who don't. "I try to see the social conditions through which these boundaries can be transformed."

The sociologist says that inclusion policies, demonized under Trump, are capable of spearheading this kind of change for racial minorities and the LGBTQIA+ population. "It contributes to a sense of dignity, which is linked to subjective well-being and mental health," she says.

The recent appreciation of mental health, according to the sociologist, makes dignity a central issue for well-being and is gaining ground as a subject of study in the social sciences. It's a pillar for younger generations, who deeply value well-being.

"For people who embrace inclusion policies, like Generation Z and millennials, there is a context of growing inequality and the decline of the American dream. The dream of social mobility has become completely obsolete."

Over the past 15 years, says the sociologist, the focus on inclusion and the idea of authenticity has replaced the American dream as a source of hope. "When people know they can't move up the social ladder, they want to live their best life today."

There is a lack of hope, says the Canadian, for the approximately 30% of Americans who still support Trump after months of radical measures, with high social and economic impact, including tariffs on global trade and the "big, beautiful bill" , a law that cuts taxes for the richest while reducing social welfare protections.

"My theory is that these people just need hope," Lamont says. "And since the Democratic Party can't provide that , these people remain loyal to Trump."