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Gen Xers may have a valuable role to play in divesting society of age segregation and developing cross-age interaction.
abstract Examining Generation X in a historical and social context allows us to understand cross-age interactions. We suggest that the contemporary problems of age integration are a result of the historical emergence of age segregation, which developed as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. Age segregation, with ageism, and derived from a growing reliance on age as an organizing principle of society, led to the institutionalization of the life course. The segmented life course remains an integral feature of social organization, and Gen Xers may have a valuable role to play in developing modes of cross-age interaction. | key words: Generation X, ageism, age segregation, life course
Study of life-course patterns and transitions over the past two centuries has demonstrat iow age segregation became established, and how chronological age was trans- _ formed from a largely incidental personal characteristic to a construct that has come to play a major role in the organization of society, culture, and self-identity. One of the signal contributions of the life-course perspective is to remind us that the "problem" of age integration, consisting of a deficit or lack of interaction or connection among people of different ages, is a relatively recent historical phenomenon. Considering Generation X in this broader historical context may illuminate both common and unique elements of the current situation, as it relates to age integration.
Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, age carried much less importance than it does now, socially as well as legally, because people had less reason to pay attention to it. Both age segregation and age awareness are products of a complex set of historical forces including industrialization, bureaucratization, and the emergence of mass education.
Before industrialization, economic activity was dominated by agriculture, and the family constituted the primary economic unit of society. Children, valued for their labor power, were typically integrated into the activities of economic production as soon as their developing physical strength permitted. Families engaged in child-rearing for longer periods as women bore children over an extended time, yet children took on adult responsibilities as early as age 7 or younger (Chudacoff, 1989).
The lives of both young people and elders...