Abstract
Here the theoretical foundations on which the arguments in the book are built are developed. The chapter begins by introducing the concept of generation as both a cohort-based and a family-based construction. A discussion then follows of how various forms of intergenerational solidarity and conflict shape the relationships between family generations. Particular attention is paid to the need for an approach that goes beyond any strict generational division and is more sensitive to the ways in which individual lives are interconnected through the use of digital technologies. To assist in this task, a post-Mannheimian approach to generational identity is outlined.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bengtson, V., Giarrusso, R., Mabry, J. B., & Silverstein, M. (2002). Solidarity, conflict, and ambivalence: Complementary or competing perspectives on intergenerational relationships? Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(3), 568–576.
Bengtson, V., & Roberts, R. E. (1991). Intergenerational solidarity in aging families: An example of formal theory construction. Journal of Marriage and Family, 53(4), 856–870.
Bengtson, V., Rosenthal, C., & Burton, L. (1996). Paradoxes of families and aging. In R. H. Binstock & L. George (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (pp. 253–282). New York, NY: Academic Press.
Bennett, A. (2009). “Heritage rock”: Rock music, representation and heritage discourse. Poetics, 37(5–6), 474–489.
Blieszner, R. (2006). A lifetime of caring: Dimensions and dynamics in late-life close relationships. Personal Relationships, 13(1), 1–18.
Bolin, G. (2016). Media generations: Experience, identity and mediatised social change. London: Routledge.
Brückner, H., & Mayer, K. U. (2005). De-standardization of the life course: What it might mean? And if it means anything, whether it actually took place? Advances in Life Course Research, 9, 27–53.
Buckingham, D. (2006). Is there a digital generation? In D. Buckingham & R. Willett (Eds.), Digital generations: Children, young people, and new media (pp. 1–13). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Burnett, J. (2010). Generations: The time machine in theory and practice. Farnham: Ashgate.
Dolničar, V., Grošelj, D., Hrast, M. F., Vehovar, V., & Petrovčič, A. (2018). The role of social support networks in proxy Internet use from the intergenerational solidarity perspective. Telematics and Informatics, 35(2), 305–317.
Edmunds, J., & Turner, B. (Eds.). (2002a). Generational consciousness, narrative and politics. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield.
Edmunds, J., & Turner, B. (2002b). Generations, culture and society. Buckingham: Open University.
Elder, G. H., & Shanahan, M. (1997). The life course and human development. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (pp. 665–715). New York, NY: Wiley.
Elder, G. H. (1994). Time, human aging and social change: Perspectives on the life course. Social Psychology Quarterly, 57(1), 4–15.
Elder, G. H. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69(1), 1–12.
Elder, G. H. (1974). Children of the great depression: Social change in life experience. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Fortunati, L., & Taipale, S. (2017). Mobilities and the network of personal technologies: Refining the understanding of mobility structure. Telematics and Informatics, 34(2), 560–568.
Ganito, C. (2018) Gendering the mobile phone: A life course approach. In S. Taipale, T.-A. Wilska, & C. Gilleard (Eds.), Digital technologies and generational identity: ICT usage across the life course (pp. 87–101). London & New York, NY: Routledge.
Guzdial, M., & Soloway, E. (2002). Teaching the Nintendo generation to program. Communications of the ACM, 45(4), 17–21.
Hammarström, G. (2005). The construct of intergenerational solidarity in a lineage perspective: A discussion on underlying theoretical assumptions. Journal of Aging Studies, 19(1), 33–51.
Helsper, E. J., & Eynon, R. (2010). Digital natives: where is the evidence? British Educational Research Journal, 36(3), 503–520.
Hepp, A., Berg, M., & Roitsch, C. (2017). A processual concept of media generation. Nordicom Review, 38(1), 109–122.
Herring, S. C. (2008). Questioning the generational divide: Technological exoticism and adult constructions of online youth identity. In D. Buckingham (Ed.), Youth, identity, and digital media (pp. 71–92)., The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Lohmeier, C., & Böhling, R. (2017). Communicating family memory: Remembering in a changing media environment. Communications, 42(3), 277–292.
Lüscher K., Hoff, A., Lamura, G., Renzi, M., Sánchez, M., Viry, G., de Salles Oliveira, P. (2015). Generations, intergenerational relationships, generational policy. A multilingual compendium. Retrieved from http://www.kurtluescher.de/downloads/Luescher-Kompendium_7sprachig-komplett_online_15-10-2015.pdf.
Lüscher, K., & Pillemer, K. (1998). Intergenerational ambivalence: A new approach to the study of parent-child relations in later life. Journal of Marriage and Family, 60(2), 413–425.
Mannheim, K. (1952). Essay on the Problem of Generations. In P. Kecskemeti (Ed.), Essays on the sociology of knowledge by Karl Mannheim (pp. 276–320). New York, NY: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
McDaniel, S. (2007) Why generation(s) matter(s) to policy. Working paper 2017-11-22. Institute of Public & International Affairs. Salt Lake City: University of Utah.
Morgan, L. A., & Kunkel, S. (2011). Aging, society and life course. New York, NY: Springer.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6.
Rainie, L., & Wellman, B. (2012). Networked: The new social operating system. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Roos, J. P. (1987). Suomalainen elämä. Tutkimus tavallisten suomalaisten elämäkerroista. Helsinki: SKS.
Rosales, A., & Fernández-Ardèvol, M. (2016). Beyond WhatsApp: older people and smartphones. Revista Română de Comunicare şi Relaţii Publice, 18(1), 27–47.
Sarpila, O. (2012). Minun sukupolveni, sinun sukupolvesi. Hyvinvointikatsaus: sukupolvien väliset suhteet (pp. 14–18). Statistics Finland: Helsinki.
Shanahan, M. J., & MacMillan, R. (2008). Biography and the sociological imagination. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.
Silverstein, M., & Bengtson, V. L. (1997). Intergenerational solidarity and the structure of adult child–parent relationships in American families. American Journal of Sociology, 103(2), 429–460.
Strauss, W., & Howe, N. (1991). Generations. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.
Taipale, S. (2016). Synchronicity matters: Defining the characteristics of digital generations. Information, Communication & Society, 19(1), 80–94.
Taipale, S., Petrovčič, A., & Dolničar, V. (2018). Intergenerational solidarity and ICT usage: Empirical insights from Finnish and Slovenian families. In S. Taipale, T.-A. Wilska, & C. Gilleard (Eds.), Digital technologies and generational identity: ICT usage across the life course (pp. 68–86). London & New York, NY: Routledge.
Taipale, S., Wilska, T.-A., & Gilleard, C. (Eds.). (2018). Digital technologies and generational identity: ICT usage across the life course. London & New York, NY: Routledge.
Tammelin, M., & Anttila, T. (2017). Mobile life of middle aged employees: Fragmented time and softer schedules. In S. Taipale, T.-A. Wilska, & C. Gilleard (Eds.), Digital technologies and generational Identity: ICT usage across the life course (pp. 55–68). London & New York, NY: Routledge.
Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: The rise of the Net Generation. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
van Dijck, J. (2008). Digital photography: Communication, identity, memory. Visual Communication, 7(1), 57–76.
Widmer, E. D. (2016). Family configurations: A structural approach to family diversity. Abingdon, Oxon, NY: Routledge.
Zimmermann, O., & Konietzka, D. (2017). Social disparities in destandardization—Changing family life course patterns in seven European countries. European Sociological Review, 34(1), 64–78.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Taipale, S. (2019). Beyond Social and Family Generations. In: Intergenerational Connections in Digital Families. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11947-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11947-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11946-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-11947-8
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)