Generational Change

Generations comprise people born within the same time period, who share similar formative experiences in adolescence and early adulthood. The concept of generations has been used to explain change and continuity in societies by social scientists and historians since the 18th century. Most recently, the concept of the generation has been used as a way to describe different groups in society, such as baby boomers or Generation X, and how their characteristics are somehow unique from other generational groupings.

The sociologist Karl Mannheim laid the groundwork for understanding the dynamics of how generations form and how social change takes place across different generations. For Mannheim, generations operate similarly to social class, with the crucial element being the common experience of the same historical problems and participation ...