THE SCIENTIFIC POTENTIAL OF KARL MANNHEIM'S SOCIOLOGICAL MODEL FOR MODERN GENERATIONAL ANALYSIS

The article presents the concept of generations by Karl Mannheim based on the author's presentation of the work «The Problem of Generations». It shows the theoretical content, socio-cultural origins of understanding generation as a social group, and the evolution of sociological views on the categories that characterize generation. The signs of generations, the features allowing to distinguish cohort and typological generations are revealed. If age boundaries are recognized as the main characteristic of cohort generations, then they represent certain age cohorts with more or less rigid age boundaries. Representatives of the same generation are connected by the fact that they experience key historical events and certain social trends, being at the same stage of life, at the same age. For typological generations, the criteria of integration are common social conditions of formation and life experience, common tasks, social roles and functions, dominant age-related socio-psychological traits, age consciousness and generational spirit...