Talking about Generations: 5 questions to ask yourself-UK IG Week

To mark National Intergenerational Week in the UK (8-14 March), the interdisciplinary Generations Network led by academics at Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Surrey, has produced a guide to ‘Talking about Generations’. The guide presents 5 key questions to be considered by those working with the concept of generations, and 3 suggestions for avoiding the pitfalls of ‘generation talk’.

The guide is the result of a year-long project funded by the Wellcome Trust, designed to transform the ways that generation is discussed among scholars, and between academics and policy-facing organisations. It further aimed to transform the way that ‘generation’ is used in media and public policy discussions, promoting a more nuanced and constructive understanding. The TOY Programme was represented in one of the project workshops.

Dr Jennie Bristow, Senior Lecturer in the School of Law, Policing and Social Sciences at the University, said: “There is increasing use of the concept of generation in media, political, and social policy discussions, particularly with regard to anxieties about generational conflict. “Such debates are often inaccurate and divisive. We wanted to redress this by clarifying what is meant when scholars and policy-makers talk about generations, and to encourage a more precise and temperate rhetoric in this area.”

More information about the Generations Network is available here.