Baby Boomers and Generational Conflict

Jennie Bristow is an associate of the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies at the University of Kent, UK, and a writer on intergenerational contact and conflict. She is co-author of Parenting Culture Studies (Palgrave, 2014) and Licensed to Hug (2010), and author of Standing Up To Supernanny (2009).

"Like the fabled blind men trying to grasp the nature of an elephant, commentators on both sides of the Atlantic have struggled to understand the significance of the baby boomers, at different times offering very different, sometimes contradictory interpretations. By telling this fascinating story, Jennie Bristow offers a model for a symbolic demography that critically explores how and why we assign meanings to generations." -Joel Best, University of Delaware, USA "Scan the cultural and political landscape today and it's hard not to conclude that Western society is experiencing a pronounced blurring of generational standards. The current furore over the 'Baby Boomer generation' only adds to this perception. Jennie Bristow's new book brings much needed clarity to all this generational confusion, and does so with no small amount of insight and flair. Required reading for social scientists looking for a considered introduction to 'generationalism', or anyone heading for retirement who wants to avoid a future of nonsensical stigmatisation." Professor Keith Hayward, University of Kent, UK.

• PART I: THE SOCIOLOGY OF GENERATIONS 1. Introduction 2. Understanding Generations Historically 3. Mannheim's 'Problem of Generations' Revisited 4. The Birth of the Sixties – Generations after the Second World War PART II: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE BABY BOOMERS AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM IN BRITAIN 5. The Cultural Script of the Baby Boomer Problem 6. The Boomers as an Economic Problem 7. The Boomers as a Cultural Problem 8. Conclusion – The Problem of Generations Today