Growing Up in the Culture Wars: Identity Affirmation and Generational Conflict

Today, many criticisms of young people in the West excoriate a self-obsessed, 'snowflake' generation and the indulgent parents and teachers who enable them, cowed by fears of offending, upsetting, or alienating the kids.But, as sociologists Jennie Bristow and Ellie Lee show, the real roots of the problem lie elsewhere.Pressure to positively affirm young people's views of themselves does not come from the organic relationships between adults and children, formed in families, schools, and communities, but from wider political and cultural dynamics that corrode these relationships.This has consequences both for adult authority, and for young people's ability to develop a rounded, grounded sense of themselves. Strong ties between the generations are essential for inducting young people into society.Today, the cultural obsession with identity incites teenagers and emerging adults to short-circuit the dynamic process of growing up by adopting fashionable badges of self-presentation.But these