ABSTRACT
More than two decades have passed since the data collection of the study reported in the previous chapters. Do the value changes in the 1990s still hold true in today’s Chinese society? What other changes have taken place in the past twenty years? This chapter provides answers to the first question by examining recent sociological works on China’s generation gaps in four aspects: (1) the relationship between social changes and the formation of generation gaps; (2) the emergence of new vocabulary as a reflection of China’s social changes and generation gaps; (3) the positive and negative impact of China’s generation gaps; and (4) a comparison between the study reported in the previous chapters of the book and other empirical studies on China’s generation gaps. To examine the recent social changes and generation gaps, the values of contemporary Chinese youth (Generation Y) are addressed in the second section of the chapter, which includes the characteristics of China’s Generation Y, the shifting work values, and the different aspects of generational conflicts. This chapter, as a comprehensive review of recent literature on China’s generation gaps, serves as a reference for future empirical studies and comparison studies on generation gaps between China and other nations.
