2019/02/13 by John Connolly · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Social and Cultural Dynamics #Sociology and Norbert Elias #Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
paper · doi:10.1177/0263276419827085
openalex publication_date 2019/02/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Since its publication in the 1920s, Mannheim’s essay, ‘The Problem of Generations’ (1952[1928]), has attained seminal status in marked contrast to Norbert Elias’s theoretical formulations on generations. Despite Elias's close relationship over many years with Mannheim, the symmetries in their sociological programmes, and, crucially, that Elias's work specifically addresses generational conflict, he remains invisible within the sociology of generations literature. Yet Elias’s contributions on this subject are quite extensive, traversing many of his major works. This article begins by reviewing Mannheim’s and Elias’s formulations on generations and goes on to consider the relevance of Elias’s theoretical ideas in relation to contemporary work on generations. The paper contends that Elias's approach is a more empirically employable theoretical frame and also a stronger one for explaining intergenerational conflict.