Baby Boomers And Generational Conflict

The dominant cultural script is that the Baby Boomers have 'had it all', thereby depriving younger generations of the opportunity to create a life for themselves. Bristow provides a critical account of this discourse by locating the problematisation of the Baby Boomers within a wider ambivalence about the legacy of the Sixties.

A decisive intervention in the "war" between generations, asking who stands to gain from conflict between baby boomers and millennials Millennials have been incited to regard their parents’ generation as entitled and selfish, and to blame the baby boomers of the Sixties for the cultural and economic problems of today. But is it true that young people have been victimized by their elders? In this book, Jennie Bristow looks at generational labels and the groups of people they apply to. Bristow argues that the prominence and popularity of terms like "baby boomer," "millennial," and "snowflake" in mainstream media operates as a smoke screen—directing attention away from important issues such as housing, education, pensions, and employment. Bristow systematically disputes the myths that surround the "generational war," exposing it to be nothing more than a tool by which the political and social elite can avoid public scrutiny. With her lively and engaging style, Bristow highlights the major issues and concerns surrounding the sociological blame game.

Written for those struggling to manage a workforce with incompatible ethics, values, and working styles, this book looks at the root causes of professional conflict and offers practical guidelines for navigating multigenerational differences. By exploring the most common causes of conflict--including the Me Generation’s frustration with Gen Yers’ constant desire for feedback and the challenges facing Gen Xers sandwiched between these polarities--Generations at Work offers practical, spot-on guidance for managing the differences with consideration to each generation’s unique needs. Along with the authors’ insights for managing a workforce with different ways of working, communicating, and thinking, this invaluable resources offers: in-depth interviews with members of each generation, tips on best practices from companies successfully bridging the generation gap, and a mentorship field guide to help you support the youngest members of your team. Generations at Work has the tools that are key to helping your workforce interact more positively with one another and thrive in today’s wildly divergent workplace culture.

The dominant cultural script is that the Baby Boomers have 'had it all', thereby depriving younger generations of the opportunity to create a life for themselves. Bristow provides a critical account of this discourse by locating the problematisation of the Baby Boomers within a wider ambivalence about the legacy of the Sixties.

The Baby Boomers are the largest and most powerful generation in American history—and they aren’t going away any time soon. They are, on average, whiter, wealthier, and more conservative than younger generations. They dominate cultural and political institutions and make up the largest slice of the electorate. Generational conflict, with Millennials and Generation Z pitted against the aging Boomer cohort, has become a media staple. Older and younger voters are increasingly at odds: Republicans as a whole skew gray-haired, and within the Democratic Party, the left-leaning youth vote propels primary challengers. The generation gap is widening into a political fault line. Kevin Munger marshals novel data and survey evidence to argue that generational conflict will define the politics of the next decade. He examines the historical trends that made the Baby Boomers so consequential and traces the emergence of age-based political and cultural divisions. Boomers continue to prefer the media culture of their youth, but Millennials and Gen Z are using the internet to render legacy institutions irrelevant. These divergent media habits have led more people than ever to identify with their generation. Munger shows that a common “cohort consciousness” binds aging Boomer voters into a bloc—but a shared identity and purpose among Millennials and Gen Z could topple Boomer power. Bringing together expertise in data analysis and digital culture with keen insight into contemporary politics, Generation Gap explains why the Baby Boomers remain so dominant and how quickly that might change.

We have all heard the nicknames for the current generations in the news. Besides the ‘Silent Generation’ (a.k.a. The Greatest Generation) born before 1946, there are Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y (also known as the Millennials), and Generation Z. In the past few years, there has been an increasing amount of coverage and discussion about the growing frustration between these generations. Some call it a generational war. Much of the debate has to do with the Boomer generation, with younger generations claiming various failures of this generation to provide a world or country that is sustainable and affordable. TV shows, podcasts, newspaper and magazine articles, movies, and social media have increasingly begun analysis and discussion about this war. It is a hot topic and, unfortunately, becoming more emotional. Most of the analysis and coverage has to do with emerging information about each generation, such as wealth accumulation, party affiliation, changing opinions, habits, values and relationships. Facts and surveys abound, discussing all of these aspects of the generations, and more. But we all innately understand that generalizations and summaries about the generations can be dangerous, and can only tell a part of the story. What is the answer to this generational conflict that is beginning to stress friendships, acquaintances, and even families? How can we diffuse the emotion and get to positive solutions that will help heal the divide? Daniel Muller attempts to understand this growing generational conflict at a more micro level, namely by documenting and sharing the individual life stories of a somewhat random collection of ‘everyday’ Baby Boomers. Besides their life stories, he relates their opinions about a series of hot topics today, all in an attempt to better understand what linkages may exist between their environment, families, early and mid-life years, and how they think and behave today. ‘SEX, DRUGS, ROCK and WAR: The Boomer Generation’ is an enjoyable collection of very diverse life stories. In addition, Muller shares a fascinating analysis of Boomer values and opinions, and hypothesizes about the underlying potential causes of the growing conflict between generations. Finally, he shares his suggestions to calm the generational wars.

Generational conflict has attracted considerable attention in the media and within academic circles during the past decade. At the center of this collection of papers analyzing various facets of that conflict lie complex issues of generational equity--issues that will remain important for the framing of public policy during the 1990s, What do the young and the middle-aged owe the elderly? In discharging that debt, to what extent are they able to provide for their own old age in a climate of changing notions of welfare? What light do the longer perspectives of history shed on these issues? What role do kinship, gender, and economic status play? The papers commissioned by Bengtson and Achenbaum are intended to give greater analytic rigor to current debates. The volume is interdisciplinary not only by theoretical intent but by the practical imperatives of gerontology. More than a dozen sociologists, economists, historians, demographers, and policy analysts discuss the meanings and ambiguities that are inherent in terms such as "generation," "equity," "compact," "contract," and "conflict," in order to assess how relations between the age groups seem to vary from one sociohistorical context to the next. This distinguished group of contributors raises comparative issues throughout, assessing variations in generational ties by gender, race, class, and geographic location. Several project the extent to which recent changes in the political economy, public philosophy, and demographic structure of most "modern" societies presage greater conflicts, or greater consensus, in family members' relationships and social ties.

Millennials, Baby Boomers, Gen Z—we like to define people by when they were born, but an acclaimed social researcher explains why we shouldn't. Boomers are narcissists. Millennials are spoiled. Gen Zers are lazy. We assume people born around the same time have basically the same values. It makes for good headlines, but is it true? Bobby Duffy has spent years studying generational distinctions. In The Generation Myth, he argues that our generational identities are not fixed but fluid, reforming throughout our lives. Based on an analysis of what over three million people really think about homeownership, sex, well-being, and more, Duffy offers a new model for understanding how generations form, how they shape societies, and why generational differences aren’t as sharp as we think. The Generation Myth is a vital rejoinder to alarmist worries about generational warfare and social decline. The kids are all right, it turns out. Their parents are too.