Review by Elizabeth Larkin, Ed.D., Associate Professor, University of South Florida

Linking Lifetimes: A Global View of Intergenerational Exchange
Editors: Matthew Kaplan, Nancy Henkin, and Atsuko Kusano
Publisher: University Press of America, 2002

Overview

The book "Linking Lifetimes: A Global View of Intergenerational Exchange" contains many long-awaited international studies, models, and conceptual frameworks for understanding the importance of an intergenerational approach to social issues. This compilation of cultural perspectives provides an insightful comparison of how some societies are struggling to maintain their rich heritage of beliefs and traditions typically passed along through familial connections, while others hope to reestablish bonds that have been lost through increasing institutitionalizing and segregating of the generations. This work is an important contribution to the field, filling an obvious gap in the literature about the essence of intergenerational exchange, its powerful consequences, and an emerging body of knowledge about effective programming from a broad perspective. By identifying different stages of social change with regard to intergenerational relationships, the editors have provided us with insights into positive ways that future social policies might be directed. The different cultural concerns and models shed light on the biases of our own assumptions about why and how intergenerational strategies are necessary.

Comments on 12 of the Book's 18 Chapters

Chapter 1 - A Conceptual Framework for Corss-Cultural Comparisons of Intergenerational Initiatives - Matthew Kaplan, Nancy Henkin, and Atsuko Kusano

• This cultural framework chapter is extremely important and sets up the critical nature of looking at culture from a global perspective when considering the issue of intergenerational relationships.
  
  

Chapter 2 - Challenging Stereotypes Across Eastern and Western Cultures - Howard Giles, Robert McCann, Hiroshi Ota, and Kimberly Noels

• This chapter illuminates many points about how eastern and western cultures view the process of aging and intergenerational relationships. It is pithy, informative, and a major contribution to the field.
  
  

Chapter 3 - Strenghtening Intergenerational Bonds through Volunteerism: A Global Perspective - Anne O'Sullivan

• Very interesting regarding how different cultures view the whole notion of volunteerism.
  
  

Chapter 4 - Employing Proverbs to Explore Intergenerational Relations Across Cultures - Matthew Kaplan

• A fascinating premise that compares beliefs and biases about youth and aging embedded in language. Wonderful metaphors telegraph ideas about how a society looks upon the wisdom of elders and the potential of youth.
  
  

Chapter 5 - Advancing an Intergenerational Agenda in the United States - Nancy Henkin and Donna Butts

• Useful background information for making comparisons with other cultures.
  
  

Chapter 6 - Intergenerational Teaching and Learning in Canadian First Nations Partnership Programs - Jessica Ball, Alan Pence, Martina Pierre, and Valerie Kuehne

• Another valuable contribution to the field that builds on the necessity of IG connections in maintaining cultural traditions in teaching and learning. The model is a powerful idea that should inspire others, and it highlights the key role of an IG Coordinator as intermediary.
  
  

Chapter 7 - Intergenerational Programs and Possibilities in Hawaii - Matthew Kaplan

• Useful background information and program models for comparison to other cultural milieus.
  
  

Chapter 8 - Intergenerational Initiatives in Singapore: Commitments to Community and Family Building - Leng Leng Thang

• Very interesting chapter about a culture that is based on a strong familial context for intergenerational relationships. Provides a peek at how a society that is moving toward a more industrialized, institutional way of life in losing critical ties among generations and what critical cultural capital, as well as social cohesion, can get lost along the way.
  
  

Chapter 9 - Intergenerational Initiatives in the Marshall Islands: Implications for Promoting Cultural Continuity - Hilda Heine

• Again, a rich cultural heritage is endangered by rapid social change (driven by economics), and this culture is struggling to maintain essential elements of continuity and intergenerational connection through programmatic interventions. One important thread here is the role of women in this culture.
  
  

Chapter 11 - Intergenerational Community Building in the Netherlands - Kees Penninx

• Another powerful model for others to contrmplate - especially the idea of creating Guilds in every community to pool resources. Particularly interesting is the fact that this is a society with an extensive social infrastructure, and yet 63% of older people have no contact with the young. Thus, they are ripe for an intergenerational perspective on social policy and community building to address shared concerns.
  
  

Chapter 12 - Intergenerational Engagement in the UK: A Framework for Creating Inclusive Communities - Gillian Granville and Alan Hatton-Yeo

• The whole issue of class brings another dimension to intergenerational exchange that is taken up in this chapter. Problems with ageism merely aggravate the underlying problem of class exclusion. Questions of political power and social change through an intergenerational approach are clearly presented, and a convincing case is made for bringing older and younger perspectives together.
  
  

Chapter 13 - German Pupils and Jewish Seniors: Intergenerational Dialogue as a Framework for Healing History - Toshio Ohsako

• Wow! This presentation of an intergenerational model of healing history is extraordinarily moving. It is so immediate and specific that this heartfelt need convinces us of the critical nature of intergenerational exchange more than any other. If we didn't recognize the nature of cultural continuity, of understanding among generation, of constructive social change, before--then surely we can see it after reading this chapter.

More information is available on the book from the publisher: http://www.univpress.com.

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