Book Reviews / Compte rendus

Abstract

This collection of papers, originally presented in a Symposium on Intergenerational Relationships held in Berlin in 1983, is broadly concerned with generational succession, relations among generations, and the consequences of these relations for individuals, communities, and societies. Theory and research are addressed at both societal and individual levels, throughout the life course, and over history. The editors intend that the book serve as a "cutting edge" in research on intergenerational relations by reporting what is known, identifying what is not known, and illuminating avenues for future research. This is a fine, scholarly book, infused with theory and a strong sense of history. It is distinguished as well by an emphasis on both macrosocial and microsocial issues and the dynamics of social class. One of the book's strengths is its international scope. Of twenty contributions, five are by North Americans and the remainder by British and European scholars. About half the chapters are devoted to theoretical discussions, while the other half combine theory and empirical findings. The first of four sections looks at intergenerational relationships historically in the process of civilization and societal development; the second focuses on solidarity and strain in the multi-generational family; the third section views relations between generations in terms of different life worlds; the final section considers the concept of generation and tendencies in research. Thus, the book covers a wide range of theoretical and empirical issues related to intergenerational relationships. Scholars interested in the multi-generational family will find this book particularly rewarding. About half the chapters are devoted to this topic, and while they present diverse perspectives and concerns, they also form the most coherent part of the book. Bengtson, Mangen and Landry present a lucid theoretical discussion of the dimensions of intergenerational solidarity, drawing on Shanas' two national U.S. surveys and on the University of Southern California three-generations study. The questions for future research posed by these authors concern the interrelationships among the solidarity dimensions, the predictors and the consequences of solidarity, and understanding contrasts between families. Research within the solidarity framework has been reasonably successful at identifying predictor variables for each dimension. However, we still know little about the inter-relations between the dimensions of solidarity or about the consequences of solidarity. This knowledge is central to a deeper understanding of the complexities of families, yet remains elusive. As an example, the finding mentioned by Bengtson et al. that interaction with children has not been found to be related to overall well-being of older people is intriguing and merits investigation. Such a finding leads one to ask about the conditions under which family solidarity has a positive or negative impact on family members, when it is irrelevant, and how these relationships are affected by generational placement in and structure of families. It is easy to assume that solidarity is good, and more is better. However, Bengtson et al. caution against such a facile assumption. Their speculation on some consequences of solidarity and the way in which various dimensions might interact is provocative and clearly suggests that the solidarity framework remains rich in potential if scholars will ask the right questions.