The social system of generational networks: strong and weak connections

The article presents a generation as a network of individuals who are connected in the social-psychological space, formulate there typical social practices, form generational institutions – constructs of social relations. These generational networks are defined as elements in the structure of social relations and as factors of functional social changes. The idea to analyse the peculiarities of gradual institutionalization within the framework of the socialcultural and organizational renovations of connections is substantiated for research on generations. Generational relations are the basis of social-cultural capital/resources, and these generational social capital/resources are a coordinated form of relations between the actors. The generational capital is understood, on the one hand, as a possibility to obtain something necessary, to satisfy own needs, on the other hand, as a dispensable component of actors' relations. The performed social-cultural analysis has determined that relations should be interpreted as processes of cultural experience influence and transfer. The analysis of figurative inter-generational interactions in the focus of strong and weak connections is substantiated. Strength of the examined connections should be estimated on the base of a width of diffusion propagation that means dissemination of relevant experiences, ideas, meanings in close circles characterized by strong generational connections, and in wide circles with weak connections that are not limited by a «coverage area». The article notes that the analysis of figurative generational connections should take into account the social and cultural contexts of their manifestations. After all, namely, the strong connections fragment the cultural «stability zones», retain cultural planes in a relatively static state, introduce cultural forms into generation's mentality, and weak connections provide possibilities for introduction of innovative units, which are formed within the network and outside it.