ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explores the diversity of generational formations by locating them in the historical specificity of the social system with its changing orientation to and organisation of time, self and body. The concept of generation reflects both this diversity of practice in actuality and the social process of language which allows fluidity over those changing contexts. The book explores different genres of generations. It suggests that the discovery of Earth time and of the 'true' ancestors to the humanity in the nineteenth century pushed the escalator of history back, thus bringing forwards and towards each other 'ancient' civilisations of perceived relevance to the Europeans. The book argues that the concept of generation belongs to the cluster of lifecourse, cohort and generation, which address the temporal and historically specific qualities of social life.
