Sociology and the Problem of ‘Social Generations’

Abstract

In evaluating the power and limitations of the ‘social generations’ concept, developed by Karl Mannheim in the 1920s, this chapter reviews the different approaches to the study of generations within the discipline of sociology, with particular regard to their relationship to contemporary social, historical and political developments. The chapter further suggests that the increasing appeal of ideas about ‘social generations’ partly reflects the increasing salience of generational analysis to a ‘post-political’ age increasingly concerned with identity, and partly reflects the misunderstanding and extension of this analysis into crude generational labels and stereotypes. By way of illustration, the chapter concludes with a discussion of generational consciousness and labelling in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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