Sociological Cultural Studies

Sociological Cultural Studies

The Concept of “Generation” in the History of Sociology

Document Type : .

Author
Kiavash Hafezi
M.A. in Sociology, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran.Iran,
10.30465/scs.2025.50135.2920
Abstract
Introduction
In Karl Mannheim’s theory the concept of “Generation” had the meaning of social and political change. However, in Iranian works, this concept is often depoliticized. Another common mistake by writers is the use of Generation X, Y, or Z, terms that are specific to the context of American society. It should be considered that even in America the application of these terms is being criticized.
Materials & Methods
The concept of 'generation' should be categorized alongside modern terms such as “class” and “nation”. In this paper, I aim to present the history and concept of 'generation' based on Johan Goudsblom and Johan Heilbron's categorization of the history of sociology. They have categorized the history of sociology into 5 stages: 1- predisciplinary, 2- formation of an intellectual discipline, 3- formation of an academic discipline, 4- establishment as a fully-fledged academic discipline and 5- late sociology.
In this article, the 'literature review' method is employed. While 'literature review' is commonly known as an introductory section in research, it can also serve as an independent research method. This latter form of 'literature review' should be understood as a systematic approach to collecting, evaluating, and synthesizing previous studies. Typically, literature reviews follow a structured pattern in the social sciences, where they involve the description and synthesis of primary sources. However, there are several types of literature reviews, such as narrative, descriptive, scoping, integrative, realist, and critical reviews. The method used in this paper is a narrative review, which summarizes and synthesizes published studies on a specific topic, focusing on concepts, assumptions, research methods, or findings
Discussion & Result
The serious emergence of the concept of generation in the texts happened during the formation of sociology as an intellectual idea. In this stage Auguste Comte and other French Positivist believed that the pace of social changes can be calculated by calculation of generations duration. In Germany, rather than focusing on quantity, some thinkers and philosophers, such as Wilhelm Pinder and Wilhelm Dilthey, sought to explore the qualities that define generations.
In response to the previous two approaches Karl Mannheim formed his theory as the first systematic theory of generation in the stage of formation of sociology as an academic discipline. In contrary to Karl Marx who had believed than social change happened through “class” and “class consciousness”, Mannheim focused on “generation”, believing that generation in terms of social structure is similar to class. His generation definition has three aspects: Generation Status, Generation as Actuality and Generation Unit.
In the period of establishment of sociology as a fully-fledged academic discipline American structural-functionalist such as Talcott Parsons and Shmuel Eisenstadt proposed that social problems such as generational struggle happens following to change in the social order and structures. Eisenstadt believed that the link of youth with adult society have been weakened due to the sense of lack identity and insecurity resulting from industrialized society. Therefore, youth are determined to find their identities and express themselves in the adult society.
In the late sociology stage, the labels such as Baby Boomers, Generations X, Y and Z entered the generational studies. These labels are applied to Iranian society, even though they are criticized in Western societies, such as the United States, for their lack of empirical basis. On the other hand, Edmonds and Turner proposed the concept of "global generation" due to the fact that people experience some events at the global level. As Mannheim replaced the concept of generation with Marx's "class" structure, they also followed his work and proposed the terms "generation in itself" (passive) and "generation for itself" (active or strategic). "Strategic generation" is particularly important in building national consciousness in a period, for example, the founding fathers of America, who were an example of the strategic generation. They also consider the formation of trauma to be decisive in creating a generation.
Conclusion
Despite its complexities and ambiguities, the concept of generation remains a pivotal topic in social studies. Mannheim's theory, with its focus on the shared experiences of a generation, deepens our understanding of the concept and distinguishes it from the purely demographic definition. Without accounting for these shared experiences, the notion of generation risks being reduced to mere demographics. Moreover, the frequent misuse of generational terms and the prevalence of unfounded generalizations about global generations underscore the critical need for empirical research and cohort studies grounded in historical and social contexts.
Keywords
Generation
Karl Mannheim
Generational Study
Generation X
Generation Y
Generation Z
Global Generations
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Sociological Cultural Studies
Volume 17, Issue 2 - Serial Number 60
Summer 2026
Spring 2026
Pages 33-70

  • Receive Date 01 October 2024
  • Revise Date 07 January 2025
  • Accept Date 07 January 2025
  • Publish Date 23 August 2026