Negotiating Generational Authority: Education, Technology and Social Change in Hunza and Nagar

Abstract

This study examines the effects of education, technology and globalization on intergenerational and youth authority in Hunza and Nagar, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The qualitative case-study design was used, and the sample consisted of 15 participants who were purposively selected, representing younger and older generations. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were used to gather data, which was then analysed thematically, as suggested by Braun and Clarke. Four main issues emerged from the analysis: education as a source of increased youth authority, the role of technology and globalization in fostering intergenerational change, increased youth engagement in family and community life, and intergenerational tensions and negotiations between tradition and modernity. Education proved to be most important in contributing to the confidence, knowledge and involvement of young people in decision-making. The increasing accessibility of information among young people and more reciprocal patterns of knowledge transfer between generations were also promoted by digital technologies and many other developments in the wider world. Elders, however, did not lose their important cultural, moral and advisory roles. The results indicate that it is not a process of replacing the authority based on age but a negotiated process of adaptation in intergenerational change in Hunza and Nagar. The study points to the fact that while participation of youth and respect for cultural traditions are certainly growing, so too is intergenerational cooperation.