Generation
Generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively.[1] It can also be described as "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and begin to have children."[2] In kinship terminology, it is a structural term designating the parent-child relationship. It is known as biogenesis, reproduction, or procreation in the biological sciences.
The word generation is also often used to refer to a birth/age cohort in demographics, marketing, and social science; under this formulation it means "people within a delineated population who experience the same significant events within a given period of time."[3] Generations in this sense of birth cohort, also known as "social generations", are widely used in popular culture, and have been the basis for sociological analysis. Serious analysis of generations began in the nineteenth century, emerging from an increasing awareness of the possibility of permanent social change and the idea of youthful rebellion against the established social order. Some analysts believe that a generation is one of the fundamental social categories in a society, while others view its importance as being overshadowed by other factors including class, gender, race, and education.
Provenance
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Notes
- ↑ Definition of Generation.
- ↑ (June 2022) "Generational Insights and the Speed of Change".
- ↑ Pilcher, Jane (September 1994). "Mannheim's Sociology of Generations: An undervalued legacy". British Journal of Sociology 45 (3): 481–495. DOI:10.2307/591659. Research Blogging.