Intergenerational Relations

This book offers a synthesis of social science and evolutionary approaches to the study of intergenerational relations, using biological, psychological and sociological factors to develop a single framework for understanding why kin help one another across generations. With attention to both biological family relations as well as in-law and step-relations, it provides an overview of existing studies centred on intergenerational relations – particularly grandparenting – that incorporate social science and evolutionary family theories. This evolutionary social science approach to intergenerational family relations goes well beyond the traditional nature versus nurture distinction. As such, it will appeal to scholars across a range of disciplines with interests in relations of kinship, the lifecourse and the sociology of the family.

Population ageing today affects most industrialised countries, and it will have an impact on many facets of the social system. Intergenerational relationships will play a key role in dealing with the demographical and societal change. This book provides innovative views in the multidisciplinary research field of intergenerational family relations in society, with a focus on Europe. Different, but complementary, perspectives are integrated in one volume bringing together international scholars from sociology, psychology and economics. The book's chapters are grouped into three thematic sections which cover conceptual issues, multigenerational and cross-cultural perspectives, as well as applied issues. Implications for research, policy and practice are addressed and suggestions for future directions are discussed. By raising recent discussions on controversial issues, this book will stimulate the current discourse at various levels. Intergenerational relations in society and family will be equally interesting for researchers, advanced-level students and stakeholders in the fields of social policy, population ageing and intergenerational family relationships.

This exciting book explores the exchange of societal support between generations. It also examines variations in contemporary practices and rationales in different regions and societies around the world. The book draws on theoretical perspectives and empirical analysis to discuss both newly emerging patterns of family reciprocity, as well as more established ones which are affected by changing opportunities and pressures in contemporary societies. It is highly international and comparative in nature, covering the US, Europe, East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Thailand.

Understand how multigenerational family relationships can benefit all generations! Intergenerational Relationships: Conversations on Practice and Research Across Cultures focuses on how family and community relationships are affected by pressing social problems. Respected international authorities reveal how cultures from Africa, Asia, the US, and Europe value connections among people of different ages and how these relationships are used to address crucial social problems. Insightful research bridges multiple disciplines to provide a unique perspective demonstrating the benefits of intergenerational relationships. Intergenerational Relationships: Conversations on Practice and Research Across Cultures presents a variety of approaches to social and intergenerational issues from international authors. The book discusses issues in two intergenerational categories: relationships in families and relationships in communities. The diverse range of content presents an enlightened view of the transformation of societies by modern technologies and illustrates the importance of maintaining a firm cultural identity through the relationships of different age groups. The view that the interdependence of multiple generations and society's common goals are inseparable is discussed in papers that explore rites of passage, language transfer, art and literature, community events, and research. Intergenerational Relationships: Conversations on Practice and Research Across Cultures explores: the devastation of intergenerational relationships in Nigeria because of AIDS intergenerational cultural transmission among the Akan of Ghana African views of elders in folklore and literature transitional changes in contemporary intergenerational relationships in India the construction of future theories of intergenerational relationships intergenerational initiatives in Sweden faith-based health and wellness programs in the US intergenerational relationships in US communities relationships between differing age groups among the Tumbuka of northern Malawi transformations over time in generational relationships in Africa intergenerational developments in England Intergenerational Relationships: Conversations on Practice and Research Across Cultures is an important text for educators and students in intergenerational studies; researchers delving into intergenerational relationships, cultural transfer, and social change; international policymakers; and interdisciplinary scholars in developmental psychology, education, gerontology, sociology, and political science.

Children’s Literature and Intergenerational Relationships: Encounters of the Playful Kind explores ways in which children’s literature becomes the object and catalyst of play that brings younger and older generations closer to one another. Providing examples from diverse cultural and historical contexts, this collection argues that children’s texts promote intergenerational play through the use of literary devices and graphic formats and that they may prompt joint play practices in the real world. The book offers a distinctive contribution to children’s literature scholarship by shifting critical attention away from the difference and conflict between children and adults to the exploration of inter-age interdependencies as equally crucial aspects of human life, presenting a new perspective for all who research and work with children’s culture in times of global aging.

Intergenerational Relations - Contemporary Theories, Studies, and Policies, concentrates on actual discussions around various aspects of interactions that occur between people from different age groups and generations. The authors present studies related to four sets of challenges crucial for relationships between children, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. These challenges include social and cultural challenges, economic and technological challenges, environmental challenges, and political and legal challenges. The volume also addresses issues important for the global, national, regional, and local application and performance of intergenerational solutions, projects, and programs focused on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The collection includes chapters encompassing research and practical recommendations from various disciplines such as demography, economics, ethics, management, gerontology, public health, pedagogy, social work, political science, and sociology. This book is an asset to academic and professional communities interested in theories of intergenerational relationships as well as public services and age-related policies. Moreover, the volume is a useful resource to help students, practitioners, and people working in government, business, and nonprofit organizations build positive and harmonious interactions between generations.

China’s Revolutions and Intergenerational Relations counters the widely accepted notion that traditional family patterns are weakened by forces such as economic development and social revolutions. China has experienced wrenching changes on both the economic and the political fronts, yet from the evidence presented here the tradition of filial respect and support for aging parents remains alive and well. Using collaborative surveys carried out in 1994 in the middle-sized industrial city of Baoding and comparative data from urban Taiwan, the authors examine issues shaping the relationships between adult Chinese children and their elderly parents. The continued vitality of intergenerational support and filial obligations in these samples is not simply an instance of strong Confucian tradition trumping powerful forces of change. Instead, and somewhat paradoxically, the continued strength of filial obligations can be attributed largely to the institutions of Chinese socialism forged in the era of Mao Zedong. With socialist institutions now under assault in the People’s Republic of China, the future of intergenerational relations in the twenty-first century is once again uncertain.

This book explores migration experiences of African families across two generations in Britain, France and South Africa. Global processes of African migration are investigated, and the lived experiences of African migrants are explored in areas such as citizenship, belonging, intergenerational transmission, work and social mobility.

Since gaining independence in 1965, Singapore has become the most trade-intensive economy in the world and the richest country in Southeast Asia. This transformation has been accompanied by the emergence of a deep generational divide. More complex than simple disparities of education or changes in income and consumption patterns, this growing gulf encompasses language, religion, and social memory. The Binding Tie explores how expectations and obligations between generations are being challenged, reworked, and reaffirmed in the face of far-reaching societal change. The family remains a pivotal feature of Singaporean society and the primary unit of support. The author focuses on the middle generation, caught between elderly parents who grew up speaking dialect and their own children who speak English and Mandarin. In analyzing the forces that bind these generations together, she deploys the idea of an intergenerational "contract," which serves as a metaphor for customary obligations and expectations. She convincingly examines the many different levels at which the contract operates within Singaporean families and offers striking examples of the meaningful ways in which intergenerational support and transactions are performed, resisted, and renegotiated. Her rich material, drawn from ethnographic fieldwork among middle-class Chinese, provides insights into the complex interplay of fragmenting and integrating forces. The Binding Tie makes a critical contribution to the study of intergenerational relations in modern, rapidly changing societies and conveys a vivid and nuanced picture of the challenges Singaporean families face in today’s hypermodern world. It will be of interest to researchers and students in a range of fields, including anthropology, sociology, Asian studies, demography, development studies, and family studies.

Focusing on the Karen people in Burma, Thailand and the United Kingdom, this book analyses how global, regional and local developments affect patterns of learning. It combines historical and ethnographic research to explore the mutual shaping of intergenerational relations and children’s practical and formal learning within a context of migration and socio-political change. In this endeavour, Pia Jolliffe discusses traditional patterns of socio-cultural learning within Karen communities as well as the role of Christian missionaries in introducing schooling to the Karen in Burma and in Thailand. This is followed by an analysis of children’s migration for education in northern Thailand where state schools often encourage students’ aspirations towards upward social mobility at the same time as schools reproduce social inequality between the rural Karen and urban Thai society. The author draws attention to international humanitarian agencies who deliver education to refugees and migrants at the Thai-Burma border, as well as the role of UK government schools in the process of resettling Karen refugees. In this way, the book analyses the connections between learning, migration and intergenerational relations in households, schools and other institutions at the local, regional and global level.