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2003:2 Intergenerational Biographic Configurations of the Inhabitants of the NISA Euroregion

František Zich, Ondřej Roubal, Barbora Spalová

The study provides a summary of the data and information that was acquired from biographic research on the identity and mentality of the population living in the Czech part of the NISA Euroregion. It follows up on the results of the international project “Biographic Identity in the Borderlands“, which was conducted by the “Borderlands Team“ at the Institute of Sociology AS CR, in 1999 to 2002, in cooperation with Göttingen University and the University of Warsaw. The study also includes information drawn from work on the project “The Regional Identity of the Population of the NISA Euroregion. (Project GA CR 403/02/1332) The method of research is founded on biographic interviews with representatives of the generation of “grandparents“ and the generation of “grandchildren“. An analysis of the biographies made it possible to construct individual types of intergenerational constellations. The persistent type of intergenerational configuration is characterised by the presence of a relatively stronger tie between generations (traditions, values, a social bond). The younger generation continues in the family tradition in congruence with what outside changes to the societal system have introduced. The immanently modernising type is characterised by the acquired and transferred general civilisational values and the trends of their generation. The affirmatively modernising type of intergenerational behaviour is characterised by the modernity of the younger generation, which is not, however, in congruence with the environment of the older generation. The dislocated type refers to a member of the younger generation that has an entirely different manner and direction of orientation than their parents and grandparents. The types presented are characterised in the study by means of categories that were derived from the biographic material, and are illustrated with selected statements made by the respondents.

Summary
The study contains data and information from the biographic research on the identity and mentality of the population living in the Czech part of the NISA Euroregion. It follows up on the results of the international project “Biographic Identity in the Borderlands“, which was carried out by the “Borderlands Team“ at the Institute of Sociology AS CR, in 1999 to 2002, in cooperation with Göttingen University and the University of Warsaw. The study also includes data from the research conducted on the regional dimensions of the biographic identity of the population.
The Czech part of the NISA Euroregion is mainly comprised of the territory from which Germans were transferred out of the country at the end of the Second World War. The study records the process of forming the social and cultural environment in these newly arisen local societies, and notes the social structure of the population and its regional identity. These questions are addressed in the first two chapters.
The method of research is based on biographic interviews with members of the generation of “grandparents“ and the generation of “grandchildren“. This enabled a comparative analysis and made it possible to derive data relating to the issues of biographic identity and national mentality in a generational perspective. Altogether 60 pairs of biographic interviews were conducted with respondents with varying social backgrounds and from various parts of the region. The aim was to ensure the necessary representative level for the data that was to be acquired.
On the basis of a gradual comparative analysis of the biographies, dimensions characterising the substantial content of the identity of the population under study were deduced, and subsequently basic types of intergenerational biographic constellations were constructed. The most influential dimension of the intergenerational configuration is “modernisation“, (as a lasting civilisational trend), or the reflection and understanding of modernisation and people’s attitudes towards it, and primarily then also the participation of these individuals in contemporary modernisation processes. The analyses of the biographic interviews of the generational pairs indicate that the intensity or the degree of modernity in the behaviour of the younger generation varies in the comparison with the generation of grandparents. By tracing the modernisation axis in the analysis of the biographies of both generations, it was possible to put together three basic types of intergenerational biographic constellations: a) the persistent type, characterised by strong intergenerational congruence; b) the modernising type, for which a continuity between the generation of grandchildren and the reflected experience and position of the generation of grandparents is typical, along with a stressed effort on the part of the grandchildren to establish their independence; c) the dislocated (break) type, which primarily relates to a discontinuation in the life style between the older and younger generations. In a comparison with the work of the German and Polish research teams using similar methods, it was possible to also specify these types in an international perspective. In the Czech section of the research, it was possible to further specify the modernising type by distinguishing between immanently modernising and affirmatively modernising sub-types. These two sub-types differ from one another in terms of the degree to which the family is “prepared“ for modernisation. The immanently modernising family environment calculates on the modernisation of the entire society and is capable of anticipating the given situation and the related processes of participating in them, as well as profiting from them in the appropriate manner. This type is most frequently found among families with high social and cultural capital, usually in a middle-class environment. Conversely, the affirmatively modernising type is characterised by distinctly active behaviour, and the effort and conviction among the younger generation that it is essential to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the current (transforming) society. However, this effort towards modernisation (independence, freeing oneself from family traditions) usually takes place without a sufficient level of preparedness and without sufficient potential in the social and cultural capital that is required, and usually also without the required economic background.
According to the analyses of the biographies, the continuous intergenerational relationship generally dominates in the Czech part. This means that in the changed social conditions the younger generation still preserves roughly the same habitus of behaviour and direction in their life orientations as formed and experienced by the older generations. Only rarely do we encounter cases in which a fundamental intergenerational break has occurred in the conception of life as a whole, whether this then means a radical rise in social standing or a decline. This connection is, however, strikingly reflected and modernised. The modernising types thus dominate in the research. This is evidence of the fact that, in the Czech environment, modernising behaviour (of both types) forms a part of the mentality of the people and is more or less a natural reaction to the changing situation in society. This modernising orientation also corresponds to a certain capacity for timely anticipation and the ability to accommodate oneself, as methods facilitating survival. These features establish overall favourable circumstances for an open society and for integration into a broader international environment.
In the study, the individual types are characterised according to categories that were derived from a comparative analysis of the biographies. The categories characterise the generational continuity and changes in some features of the mentality and identity of the younger generation of inhabitants in the region under study.
The category “open family ties“ reveals that family ties still play an important role in the Czech environment, but that these ties are also quite loose. The family bond, especially among the younger generation, is not of the nature of a fatal commitment, but is rather a sensitive and respected social relationship.
The category designated as the need to associate (corporativism) is usually a matter of a tie to a local community, various local associations, groups, and organisations. Corporativism is also a specific form of the regional identity of the people. It is strongest among the persistent intergenerational type. The reflexive approach to traditions consists in the rational assessment of values, norms, customs, attitudes, and models of behaviour of the older generation and in making the selection between that which is necessary and can be adopted, and in the new circumstances can even be further developed (modernise – re-assess in the spirit of the development of society), and that which it would be best to leave behind. Anticipation, as the ability to foresee how things will develop and to conceive of means of achieving certain results, is, along with flexibility and an ability to improvise, a clear feature of Czech character. Individualisation and independence is a basic expression of the current modernisation (post-modernisation) of social processes. It is a solution to the conflict and tension that exist between the formal (organised) and the informal (unorganised) sides of the life of society. It is typical for both modernising sub-types of intergenerational constellations.
The results reveal that Czech society is dominantly characterised by the modernising intergenerational behaviour, (the intergenerational relations of the modernising type numerically dominate). This openness is not, however, without its limits, nor is it naively conceived or even universal. Modernising processes in society and among individuals occur variously, and if we measure them on the basis of the increase in the informality and independence of individuals from organisations and their independence from traditions, then it is among young people that they have the majority of advocates and representatives. The relatively high level of modern thinking and behaviour is a product of the development of society, but clearly also of the historical experiences and events that Czech society has been through. It is a part of the Czech mentality and the ability of people to anticipate. The modern behaviour of people, at the heart of which lies individualisation, and thus also independence and responsibility for one’s own life, depends both on external circumstances (globalisation, post-modernity, integration, the political system of the state), and on the narrower social environment and personal dispositions.

Keywords:
Biographic identity, mentality, socio-cultural space, intergenerational biographic constellations, types of intergenerational biographic constellations: persistent, immanent, affirmative, dislocated;
reflexive approach to traditions, corporativism, family ties, anticipation, individualism