Futures and Pasts in Transition, Family Conversations on Occupational and Personal Ambitions and Perspectives in Luxembourg - LUXFUT
Coordinating Institution:
Université du Luxembourg
Contracting Partner(s):
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut, Essen (D) ,
Emory University Atlanta (USA)
From: 01/04/2009
To: 30/09/2011
Budget: 148,000.00€
Contact(s):
Kmec Sonja
Progress Summary 2009
Traditionally, families have served as a core social unit offering a sense of belonging and continuity, not the least with regard to “inherited” professional occupations and social status to its members. This function has been wiped away by accelerating economical changes, enforcing the change of biographical and professional scripts. Today, the parents’ and grandparents’ careers no longer serve as models for the younger generations.
The project “LUXFUT” investigates the ways in which memories transmitted in families affect the future expectations of individual family members. Special attention is paid to the interrelation between social change, intergenerational social mobility and historical consciousness. The study is based on the theoretical assumption that the self understanding of individuals and social groups as well as the ability to cope with reality depend on historical consciousness: The past has to be narrated and related to the present and future in meaningful ways in order to enable the subjects to interpret and act in situations of change. Which impact do memories transmitted in families have on the individual member’s biographical scripts? In which ways is intergenerational communication about the past related to future expectations within families? Do members of different generations share common stories and interpretations to cope with their individual needs of orientation? Do memories bridge the generational gaps that are experienced due to dramatic changes in biographical scripts? Motivated by the deep structural changes the Luxembourgian society has experienced during the last decades, the study is closely related to the project “LUX-ID” funded by the FNR. It will supplement the ongoing research on intergenerational communication and patterns of interpretation based on historical continuity and change (Sinnbildungsmuster / Jörn Rüsen). Since beginning of the project, contact with the partners at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen in Germany and the Emory University Atlanta in the US, Dr. Jens Kroh and Lesley Anne Bleackney has been deepened in several work sessions. A common code tree for the analysis of interview material has been established between the three parties and plans were made for a joint publication on the projects methodology, focusing on “timelines”, a newly developed tool used during biographical interviews. So far qualitative interviews with 6 out of 12 families in Luxembourg (both individual and group interviews) have been conducted, focusing on the family member’s biographies/careers and their future prospects.
Refereed Scientific Publications: ---
Other Publications:
Lesley A. Bleakney & Dr. Jens Kroh ‚ “Now the Economy is Down, But It Will be Up Again”, published May 5th 2009 in www.journaloffamilylife.org/
Figure 1: Project members Sophie NEUENKIRCH (UL), Jens KROH (KWI) and Lesley BLEAKNEY (EMORY) (ltr)
Figure 2: Project members Sonja KMEC, Sophie NEUENKIRCH and Claudia LENZ (ltr)