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Rethinking theoretical and methodological issues in intergenerational family relations research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2011

ARIELA LOWENSTEIN ,
RUTH KATZ  and
SIMON BIGGS
ARIELA LOWENSTEIN*
Affiliation:
Center for Research and Study of Aging and Department of Gerontology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
RUTH KATZ
Affiliation:
Center for Research and Study of Aging and Department of Human Services, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
SIMON BIGGS
Affiliation:
School of Social and Political Science, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
*
Address for correspondence: Ariela Lowenstein, Center for Research and Study of Aging, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel. E-mail: ariela@research.haifa.ac.il
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Abstract

This paper introduces some key theoretical and methodological developments in the study of intergenerational family relations. It draws on observations that a number of social issues are emerging that have an intergenerational dimension, that there is growing recognition that to study adult ageing one has also to study intergenerational relationships, and that a new architecture for social relations is beginning to take shape in the wake of demographic change. How individuals, families and societies cope with such changes provokes the question of how gerontologically-informed research, theorisation and policy will also adapt. Seven positions are summarised which attempt two things. First, to map out some new conceptual directions for intergenerational research through a critical use of concepts such as transition, generational self-awareness and empathy, metaphors of cultural translation, and the deployment of social and moral capital. Second, to examine changing gender roles, the balance between family and welfare-state support frameworks, ethnicity and immigration as important elements of this process. A critical review of approaches to intergenerational relationships hopefully emerges.

Keywords

theorymethodologyintergenerational relationshipssocial change
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 31 , Issue 7: Rethinking Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Intergenerational Family Relations Research , October 2011 , pp. 1077 - 1083
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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