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| Awakening Prophet 1701-1723 | Awakening Prophet 1701-1723 | ||
| Liberty Nomad 1724-1741 | Liberty Nomad 1724-1741 | ||
| Republican Hero 1742-1766 | ] Hero 1742-1766 | ||
| ] Artist 1767-1791 | ] Artist 1767-1791 | ||
Revision as of 03:11, 26 February 2003
Generation is the act of producing offspring, or procreation. It is also the act of bringing something into being. A generation can also be a stage or degree in the succession of natural descent (such as grandfather, father, and son are three generations) or stages of successive improvement in the development of something.
A generation can also represent all the people born at about the same time. Historians hold differing opinions as to what extent dividing history into generations is useful or an improper over-generalization.
The Strauss & Howe "Generations" Theory
William Strauss and Neil Howe in their books Generations and The Fourth Turning divide Anglo-American history into saecula, or seasonal cycles of history, and divide the saecula into generations by birth year, and classify generations and historical periods into four types each.
As history molds generations, so do generations mold history. Modern Anglo-American history runs on a two-stroke rhythm. The two strokes are an Awakening and a Crisis.
- During an Awakening, rising adults are driven by inner zeal to become philosophers, religious pundits, and hippies, alienating children (who see the adult world becoming more chaotic each day) and older generations alike. Civil order comes under attack from a new values regime. Examples of Awakening eras include the Protestant Reformation (1517-1542), the Puritan Awakening (1621-1649), the Great Awakening (1727-1746), the Second Great Awakening (1822-1844), the Third Great Awakening (1886-1908), and the Consciousness Revolution (1964-1984).
- A Crisis is a decisive era of saecular upheaval. The values regime propels the replacement of the old civic order with a new one. Wars are waged with apocalyptic finality. Examples of Crisis eras include the Wars of the Roses (1459-1487), the Spanish Armada Crisis (1569-1594), the colonial Glorious Revolution (1675-1704), the War for American Independence (1773-1794), the American Civil War (1860-1865), and the twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945).
A High is an era between a Crisis and an Awakening, and an Unraveling is an era between an Awakening and a Crisis.
The four types of generations are as follows:
- A Prophet (or Idealist) generation is born during a High, spends its rising adult years during an Awakening, spends midlife during an Unraveling, and spends old age in a Crisis. Prophetic leaders have been cerebral and principled, summoners of human sacrifice, wagers of righteous wars. Early in life, few saw combat in uniform; late in life, most come to be revered as much for their words as for their deeds.
- A Nomad (or Reactive) generation is born during an Awakening, spends its rising adult years during an Unraveling, spends midlife during a Crisis, and spends old age in a new High. Nomadic leaders have been cunning, hard-to-fool realists, taciturn warriors who prefer to meet problems and adversaries one-on-one.
- A Hero (or Civic) generation is born during an Unraveling, spends its rising adult years during a Crisis, spends midlife during a High, and spends old age in an Awakening. Heroic leaders have been vigorous and rational institution-builders, busy and competent in old age. All of them entering midlife were aggressive advocates of technological progress, economic prosperity, social harmony, and public optimism.
- An Artist (or Adaptive) generation is born during a Crisis, spends its rising adult years in a new High, spends midlife in an Awakening, and spends old age in an Unraveling. Artistic leaders have been advocates of fairness and the politics of inclusion, irrepressible in the wake of failure.
The list of generations and their types is as follows:
GENERATION TYPE BIRTH YEARS ---------- ---- ----------- Late Medieval Saeculum: Arthurian Hero 1433-1460 Humanist Artist 1461-1482
Reformation Saeculum: Reformation Prophet 1483-1511 Reprisal Nomad 1512-1540 Elizabethan Hero 1541-1565 Parliamentarian Artist 1566-1587
New World Saeculum: Puritan Prophet 1588-1617 Cavalier Nomad 1618-1647 Glorious Hero 1648-1673 Enlightenment Artist 1674-1700
Revolutionary Saeculum: Awakening Prophet 1701-1723 Liberty Nomad 1724-1741 Republican Hero 1742-1766 Compromise Artist 1767-1791
Civil War Saeculum: Transcendental Prophet 1792-1821 Gilded Nomad 1822-1842 Progressive Artist 1843-1859
Great Power Saeculum: Missionary Prophet 1860-1882 Lost Nomad 1883-1900 G.I. Hero 1901-1924 Silent Artist 1925-1942
Millenial Saeculum: Boom Prophet 1943-1960 13th Nomad 1961-1981 Millenial Hero? 1982-2003?
According to the above chart, generational types have appeared in Anglo-American history in a fixed order for more than 500 years, with one hiccup in the Civil War Saeculum. (The reasons for this is because according to the chart, the Civil War came about ten years too early; the adult generations allowed the worst aspects of their generational personalities to come through; and the Progressives grew up scarred rather than ennobled.)