Sociology and Criminology

A Sociology of Generations and Social Change? From Passive to Active Generations

Module code: L4075A
Level 5
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay

From anti-gun high-school students in the US to Greta Thunberg’s climate campaigning, the ‘post-millennial’ generation is seemingly taking the lead in promoting social and political change. So, why have sociologists paid so little attention to the role of generations in social change?

You’ll explore:

  • the role of generational movements in social change,
  • conflicting views on what shapes and unifies generations
  • evidence for active/passive alternation linked to processes of generational ‘closure’
  • the reasons for generations’ frequent neglect by sociology, including the centrality of class analysis
  • the classical roots for a theory of generations and social change, including the work of Karl Mannheim
  • contemporary theorists such as Pierre Bourdieu.

You’ll investigate a range of case studies, including:

  • generations’ role in nation-building
  • the role of ‘marginal’ generations, such as women and ethnic minorities in changing social arrangements that have excluded them
  • whether it is possible to conceive of a global generation effecting global social change.

You’ll explore questions such as:

  • whether the environmentalist orientation of today’s younger generation comes from the politics of privilege
  • whether millennials’ active focus on global poverty has shifted to a more passive post-millennial concern about ecology.

 

Module learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of classical and contemporary theories of generations and social change.
  • Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of case studies where generations have seemed to play a role in social change.
  • Apply the theoretical concepts/frameworks covered in the module to empirical examples, in order to critically analyse these examples.
  • Assess the competing arguments that continue to focus on class as the major motor of social change.