Intergenerational Relations and Continuities in Socialization

ABSTRACT The concept of “generations” is important in analyses of socialization, representing a crucial link between individual development and the broader social and historical context. Intergenerational relations are characterized in this chapter in terms of macro- and micro-perspectives on time, social structure, and socialization. The concept “generation” is defined in two ways: generation as cohort and as lineage, corresponding to these two levels of analysis. Relations between generations are seen as a continuous bilateral negotiation in which the young and the old exchange information and influence from their respective positions in developmental and historical time. There are inevitable intergenerational differences, stemming from contrasting types of contact with cultural institutions, differences in orientation toward future time, age differentials in social position, and within-cohort solidarity. There are also inevitable intergenerational similarities, resulting from interdependence, explicit attempts at transmission, and mutual effect-informational dependence. These factors which lead to difference and similarity between generations can be seen as one element in broader socio-cultural change, as generational units are involved in the production, testing, and selection of cultural alternatives in a feedback process .