Kahini Palit, Author at Adamas University

Sociologists have been said to have a deeper understanding of social phenomena than the practitioners of any other discipline. This is mostly because Sociologists deal with such intricate aspects of everyday social life, that most people fail to notice as a specific phenomenon. One such everyday phenomenon is generation gap. Generation gap is generally perceived as difference in values, attitudes, opinions etc. between people of different generations. But is it a noteworthy thing? The answer is Yes. It can be perceived in daily lives of people in families, in the office, on the street, pretty much everywhere. And it is a complex and interesting thing omnipresent in our lives.

Why does generation gap happen?

The difference in values and attitudes result from difference in their indoctrination to these values and socialization. And social condition shapes the values and attitudes of its time. It is very interesting to note that there is a notable difference in attitudes about expected behaviours of couples in public. Indians in the 60s considered embracing of couples in public a shameful act. The number of joint families in the 1960s was also way more than it is in 2020. So, couples were expected to refrain from any public show of love even in their joint families. But with the growing number of nuclear families and rise of the urban lifestyle, public embracing of couples has been destigmatised to a certain extent. Now, the 2020 youth might feel a public show of love for his/her partner is nothing to be ashamed of, whereas the man in his 60s now might feel enraged that today’s youth have crossed all boundaries of shamelessness. It is a natural feeling for both the age groups, because their values are completely shaped by the specific time they grew up, and the social currents affecting them.

Technological cause of generation gap

Technological development of an age also give rise to difference in culture and the value system. Inventions like smartphones and 4G network have suddenly provided a level of speed and efficiency in our daily lives, and its corresponding change in the values. For example, the perception of learning with books and paper and pen has undergone profound transformation with the onset of online classes in schools and universities worldwide. Thus, the understanding of mobile phones as a mere method of communication has graduated to the indispensable lifeline that is the smartphone, which is also the major means of teaching learning activity today. Smartphones and digital presence have brought profound cultural changes. Digital connectivity is fast eroding personal relationships where people went to see each other in person. Instead, automated messages or GIFs are circulated in social media and messengers for the same occasions. Today’s youth spend considerable part of their days browsing through social media, and their value system has been tuned with connectivity through the web. Older people often find this behaviour of the millennials as flimsy, irresponsible and detached. The gap in both the generation’s values prevent them from coming to a common ground.

Is generation gap psychological?

Generation gap has often been depicted as a psychological phenomenon, where the younger generation has been accused of a careless youthful attitude, where they don’t respect the values of the older generation, and love to act on their heightened adrenaline. Similarly, the older generation has been accused of orthodoxy and lack of open mindedness. But I have advanced several arguments in this article to prove that generation gap is unmistakably social, and I further argue that it has not anything to do with the psychology of the individuals. A specific time period gives rise to values and emotions that are obsolete at a former or latter time. The difference in values in two separate time periods may vary so much that they might appear contrary.

How values of different time shape the attitudes towards things

Presently, the world is gradually being aware of environmental degradation and the effects of global warming. In this respect, the inspiration from and imitation of developed countries has transformed in view of their increased carbon footprint. Environmental sustainability is increasingly given more importance in every country. This consciousness of protecting the environment has given birth to new and changed values. This awareness and sensitivity to the environmental cause is a unique aspect of the contemporary time, unknown and unthinkable 25 years back. A person belonging to an older generation might think it alright to burn garbage as a means of getting rid of waste materials and keeping the house clean, since he has never been raised in the consciousness of environmental conservation, and never had the need to think of the emission of different gases resulting from burning of different objects in the garbage. However, the values of a person raised into a consciousness of conservation dictates him never to commit such an act, and possibly prevent such action by others, he might also advocate keeping it inside the house until the garbage collector arrives. The difference in value system both the generations were socialized into are contrary to each other, and hence, the same circumstance is experienced differently by both.

Conclusion

As a concluding remark, I argue that generation gap is not homogeneously experienced by everyone. Since the different cultural values one is exposed to shapes one’s beliefs and attitudes, generation gap between two generations is widened when contradictory social values of two different time periods are in strife.

The social crisis

We are living in an unusual time. The world has suddenly come to a standstill, with closing down of businesses, and human life restricted. The pandemic crisis of COVID-19 has forced the global citizens to remain in their homes amid lockdown and content themselves with the simpler pleasures of life.

Along with the rising fear and uncertainty, the lockdown has also induced domestic violence, child abuse and depression. Society is going through an unprecedented condition, tackling new challenges from various spheres. A grave social crisis has manifested itself, there is unhappiness, and depression in the homes on the one hand, and economic crisis on the other. Such conditions are unsuitable for any society to survive and prosper.

After we survive

The post COVID-19 world would be required to be remade, keeping in mind what will be at stake in the event of us failing to do so. A society rife with inequality, deprivation, and gender discrimination is an unsustainable society, as has been clearly proven in the past few months; that we are far away from gender equality, in spite of what the feminist movements have achieved for decades, and that a large section of the population of India is living at the margins, who are bearing the heavy brunt of closing down of business due to lockdown. Sociologists, worldwide, are concerned about the various challenges and new social problems that have manifested, as people have been restricted in their homes, forced to cohabit for months without a break, and a large section of the population losing their only means of subsistence.

Understanding Sociology in view of the pandemic

Sociology plays a central role in understanding the extent of the pandemic, the gravity of the social crisis it has generated, as well as an insight into the most vulnerable sections of the population affected. The unbridled urbanization in the 21^st century India and the unplanned growth and extension of the cities has also brought with it the gift of slums in numerous areas. With the rising land prices in cities in India, people are forced to settle in ‘jhopris’, for whom, the city ensures the means of subsistence. Extremely close habitation in such places, in addition to common toilets and overall problems of sanitation, has often been mentioned in newspaper headlines, in the event of a disease outbreak like cholera or malaria in the past. But hardly, much is done about it either by the government, political parties or non-governmental organizations. Thousands of labourers migrate to the city in search of jobs, and the only way they could afford to live in the city is in slums.

But, in order to safeguard against covid 19, physical distancing is of utmost importance, a principle which is literally impossible to follow in informal slum settlements. And this time, the government cannot ignore the dire consequences that can result from living in such close proximity. The present corona virus outbreak in Dharavi, in Mumbai, is a case in point. Such problems of a developing country like India could be only addressed by methodological tools of Sociologists, who are trained in field research and scientific observation, and who possess a sound understanding of the culture of the social group they are studying, without prejudice. This makes them unparallel in understanding the social problems in their depth and offering possible solutions.

The crucial role of Sociologists

The government would invariably depend on the Sociologists to understand numerous social problems, for example, the problems encountered by migrant labourers, who have been stranded as a result of the lockdown due to the pandemic. The administration cannot brand them as ‘agitators’, since these are the ground-level workers upon whose shoulders the nation stands. In the event of loosing their jobs, and unable to reach home hundreds of miles away, the responsibility of their care rests with the government. But without due research, and in-depth understanding of the specific problems, solutions have proven to fail. The only people capable of that kind of research with scientific methodology are the Sociologists. With the economy being hit hard, job losses and price rise are bound to follow in the post pandemic world. But with the right research and appropriate policy initiatives, we can prevent the society from descending into poverty and deprivation. By understanding the causes of deprivation and the specific needs to empower the population by generation of resources, we can help in creating a better world.

Sociology, as a discipline, provides the critical insight into society that would be required in the new world. After the world survives the catastrophic wreck left behind by the virus pandemic, India as a nation would require effective social policies to tide over the crisis and rejuvenate. The reformulation of policies of rural and urban development, with an emphasis on sustainability would require the expertise of Sociologists. Methodical observation, and scientific analysis of the social problems could only lead to a better understanding of the problems itself and eventually its solutions. Thus, I believe, in the new world, the services of the Sociologists would be of utmost importance to the national and international community to build a better tomorrow.

Author: Kahini Palit

Generation gap: how values are shaped with the passage of time

Sociology and the post-pandemic world: reconstructing a sustainable society