Thinking Genealogically About Place
There are two distinct ways in which members of a society may think about their inclusivity in place and time. One way, genealogy, takes its bearings from lines of family descent. The other, generation, finds its units of measurement in cohorts of people born at approximately the same time. These two approaches have something in common: they both use biological relationships as a way of thinking about social relationships. But the differences between them are equally clear. Genealogy provides a vertical sense of belonging that defines the people of the present in terms of their ancestors. Generation is horizontal: it constructs a community of coevals. Genealogy concentrates on succession, whereas generation emphasizes simultaneity. Genealogy attaches importance to kin connection; generation potentially transcends kin. Meeting Places It did not take long for me to realise that my random collision with Suffolk in the early 1980s might run deeper than a one-off scientific project. Th...
