Link to Additional Chapter Reviews: Introduction Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter ThreeWalt Mueller's Supplemental Resources for Chapter Four
Books/Articles Referenced in this Chapter
1. Neil Howe and Bill Strauss - The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny
2. Marva Dawn - Is it a Lost Cause?
3. Neil Howe and William Strauss - Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation
4. John Geraci, Dana Markow and Osa Hirsch - Harris Interactive/Kid Power Poll of Youth Marketers: Summary Report
5. Peter Zollo - Wise Up to Teens
6. Andy Crouch - For People Like Me
7. Gene Del Vecchio - Creating Ever-Cool: A Marketer's Guide to a Kid's Heart
8. Dean Borgman - When Kumbaya Is Not Enough
9. Thomas Lickona - Educating for Character
10. Nathan Cobb - Generations 2000: Meeting Tomorrow's Teens
11. Duane Elmer - Cross-Cultural Conflict
12. Os Guiness - Long Journey Home
13. Judith Wallerstein, Julia Lewis and Sandra Blaskeslee - The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce
14. Women's Educational Media - Statistics on US Families
15. Alternatives to Marriage Project - Statistics
16. The Barna Update - Born Again Adults Less Likely to Co-Habit, Just as Likely to Divorce
17. Gerard Kelly - Retrofuture
18. William Mahedy and Janet Bernardi - A Generation Alone
19. Kaiser Family Foundation - New Study Finds children Age Zero to Six Spend as Much Time with TV, Computers and Video Games as Playing Outside
20. George Barna - Teens Change Their Tune Regarding Self and Church
21. Charles Colson - How Now Shall We Live?
22. Neil Howe & William Strauss - Q & As from Millenials Rising
23. Millard Erickson - Postmodernizing the Faith: Evangelical Responses to the Challenges of Postmodernism
Comment A
"Adolescence is a crossroads. It's a time marked by overwhelming change, numerous questions and a search for answers. Not sure which direction to take, the emerging generations are presented with confusing messages and options. Usually, the signposts they choose to follow are attractive, loud and convincing in response to their unspoken teenage cry of 'Show me the way.' The choice is made easier when they see their peers moving en masse in one direction. The automatic assumption is, 'That must be the way.'" (Mueller, 80f)
After wrestling with the last chapter on postmodernism, it's interesting to read the next chapter on generational theory! If what is being shared is a generalized exploration of a group of people who are sharing a set of experiences which shape their sense of collective self - I can agree with this idea. However, much of the generational theory which I have read quickly degenerates into reductive and deterministic interpretaions.
In cultural studies, there is an emphasis on difference - recognizing the complexity and multiplicity of expressions that exist in what we call 'culture.' There is no specific, monolithic youth culture. Rather, we can speak of youth cultures - which differ according a variety of factors: gender, ethnicity, socio-economic context, geographic location, technological acess, taste etc. etc. This approach seems to go against the grain of what folk like Howe and Strauss discuss in Millennials Rising.
As a result, I don't know if I could completely agree with the statement that the navigational choices are clear-cut - they're not! I would agree that there are power struggles in terms of the ideal being presented via the media industry, and that this seeks to coerce youth into a hegemonic state... but this is both continually being displaced/replaced by new ideas competing for this spot; and also resisted, rejected and negotiated by youth themselves.
Often I find these theories to seek to quantify youth culture - quickly turning these 'insider' insights into a profitable return! For example, how can Howe and Strauss pre-determine the culture of a generation??? If they have a pre-determined expectation of how youth culture will look, their research will support these claims because this lens will be the dominant editor/interpreter of any data being compiled.
(more to follow)
1 comment:
ooooo... steve, am i sensing some cool hunter undertones in here?
to think that we should be cool hunters of the postmodern generation. not to set what is cool. but to find out what their jungle is like. to discover the context and see why they think or act the way they do....
and to think of these as our hero generation. puts alot more weight and anticipation on their potential.
it is concerning that we can label the emerging generation as void of morals. i still would like to hold on to the ideal, or the thread that they do know right from wrong, they just choose to do or say whatever they want to, when they want to. but then again, morals and christianity have eroded, and thus have become foreign to them. so maybe they really have no realization of what morals are.
there should be some interesting discussion on this one...
~jenn
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