Generation conflict

As a generation gap refers to either a conflict situation in the youth with their own parents' generation or, more generally, the conflict between two different generations , often of prejudice is marked to the other generation.

First of all, the term, which can be used in almost all cultures, is used to describe an internal family but widespread dispute between young and old in society. This is also the subject of developmental psychology . Often it is a question of property or moral structures that are defended or attacked. For example, there is a generation of “ young people ” who do not feel respected by “the elderly” or who have a different attitude or opinion on various topics, or vice versa. In bourgeois society, until after the Second World War, the dispute over an inheritance was often the main cause of generational conflict. In agricultural societies, the handover of the farm was one of the most conflicting issues between fathers and sons (partly ritualized by a regionally valid succession ). Family research, however, has repeatedly indicated that there are usually more things connecting than dividing between different generations in a family.

Generational conflict in society

In a more general sense, generation conflicts arise from cultural, social or economic differences between the generations in the social sense, i.e. between age groups. It is about structurally different topics and forms of conflict that have to be considered in the historical context, as they depend on the ideas of the respective epoch and society. For example, there are established, older generations at the control points of power who want to keep their position of power. Consequently , if there is no generation change , they come into conflict with the younger, less established generation or their representatives , see e.g. B. the age structure of the major popular parties . There are also differences in values or conflicts of interests between the young and old generation; One example is the generation contract on which the statutory pension insurance in Germany has been based since 1957. Due to the changed age structure of the population, fewer and fewer employees subject to insurance are paying in contributions, while the number of pensioners who were previously contributors themselves is steadily increasing. The criticism is that the state has failed to fulfill its role as a regulating factor for maintaining social peace in a long foreseeable conflict of interests. Even more fundamental is the criticism that inadequate measures against climate change and environmental degradation are destroying the livelihoods of future generations.

In an exaggerated form, there is also occasional mention of the “struggle of the generations” , which arises from irreconcilable opposites and in which (this is the form of fiction ) there is also massive use of state violence against the elderly. This use of language is in turn criticized as age discrimination .

See also

• Fridays For Future
• Generation change

literature

• Wolfgang Gründinger : uprising of the young. How we can avoid the war of generations. Munich 2009.
• Klaus Hurrelmann : Lebensphase Jugend, Weinheim: Juventa, 7th edition 2004.
• Rolf Oerter , Leo Montada (Ed.): Developmental Psychology . Textbook. Weinheim: Beltz 2002, 5th A. ISBN 3621274790 .
• Frank Schirrmacher : The Methuselah plot or: Racism against the elderly? Munich, 2004.
• Pasqualina Perrig-Chiello , Martina Dubach (eds.): Brittle generation cement , intergenerational relationships under renovation, 1st edition, Zurich, vdf Hochschulverlag AG at ETH Zurich, 2012, ISBN 978-3-7281-3507-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ On the conflicts within migrant families, cf. Migrant families in the generation conflict dradio, January 9th 2009 and Jonas Lobgesang: Kurz und Painless - A film by Faith Akin on googlebooks
2. ↑ "Climate change, the greatest threat we humans have ever experienced, is not being fought with the highest priority by the federal government or any of the parties. You are putting the life and well-being of future generations at risk." ( Generation manifest. Warnings ( Memento of the original from June 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. From June 6, 2013) 
3. ^ R. Gronemeyer: The distance from the wolf pack. About the threatening war between the young and the old. Econ, Munich 1989, ISBN 3430135303 (2nd edition 2004 as a battle of the generations )
   So 2007 the ZDF in a self-produced film " 2030 - Uprising of the old "
4. ↑ Der Tagesspiegel from January 20, 2007 : Economist Bert Rürup condemns the ZDF documentary "Uprising of the Old"
5. ^ Spiegel-Online Jan. 18, 2007 : ZDF defends itself against social association - meaning Walter Hirrlinger , President of the social association VdK