The generation gap and international development

Fel ipe Herrera

The generation gap and international development'

Fel ipe He r r e r a

(Chile), former president of the Inter-American Development Bank; previously exeattive director of the International [ffonetary Fund, general manager of the Central Bank of Chile, finance minister and professor of economics at the School of Law and Sociology, University of Chile.

The conflict of generations

Today's %eneration gap' reflects a conflict that is as old as history. The founders of Western culture, Plato and Aristotle, analysed this conflict. Plato considered it the primary factor in the modification of political institutions, while Aristotle viewed it as a prime reason for the regeneration of spiritual and ethical values. Yet in our time, the problem has acquired a new intensity, and meaning. Just as in phys- ics, a load increase exceeding certain limits produces qualitative changes in the original substance, so the new dimensions of the youth movement in the contemporary world are sufficient to produce un- precedented social results. We must not forget that young people comprise a steadily increasing segment of the world's population. In the four decades between 196o and the year 2ooo, it is estimated that world population between 15 and 24 years of age will rise from 519 million to I,IZ8 million. The anxiety, restlessness and rebellion of today's youth is symptomatic of the larger and deeper crisis that plays an integral role in the evolution of the modern world.

The word 'youth' defies exact definition. It denotes a phase of life that begins at puberty and lasts ten, fifteen, or twenty years, de- pending on who uses the phrase and in what context. The definition also depends on the circumstances and meanings in which it is used. We propose to use the term in its socio-economic sense: considering that the young person is he who, having arrived at puberty, is in a position to assume a specific role in his society. In this sense, the period of youth has been lengthening continually.

r. This article was written for a series of studies prepared for the International Commission on the Development of Education, at Unesco.

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Prospects, Vol. I I , No. 2, Summer 1972

Felipe Herrera

In the old days, the transition from child to mature adult was made in a matter of months, but now the transition requires not less than ten years. The increased role of technology in the production and distribution of goods and services requires lengthening periods of apprenticeship, which considerably delay the integration of new generations into active economic life. The farmer who uses antiquated farming techniques does not go through a period of apprenticeship during his adolescence; rather, he goes from boyhood to manhood without transition. As Tannegay de Quinetain has said: 'Youth is a creation of modern society. In the first phase, the industrial society created a new social class, by changing farmers and artisans into craftsmen. In the second phase, it created a new age group, classi- fying a part of the adult population as youths and students. Perhaps the whole conflict revolves around the fact that before the war young people were a minority, but now they are in the process of becoming the majority.' He concludes: 'Declaring themselves at war with society, students~ the intellectual vanguard of the young, claim adult status for themselves.'

The youth rebellion does not have its origin in preconceived areas of thought; neither in an ideology nor in the course of a particular political leader. It is a spontaneous movement, arising independently in many places, in rebellion against the highly competitive society in which success, measured in terms of dollars and cents, is the highest form of social achievement. It is a rebellion against the insanity of war, the threat of atomic destruction, racial prejudice and injustice and against environmental pollution. It is also a rebellion against artifice and the bureaucracy that overwhelms public and private institutions. In sum, it is a rebellion against those negative aspects of our civilization which have become a part of what we call 'modern economic progress'.

We see an emotional and visceral reaction generated among the young, which causes them to turn their back on reality and seek identity in a life style that is exclusively their own. The theories of Ortega y Gasset and Manheim on the nature of the generations still stand, because they are characterized essentially by a way of life in which reality is determined by experience. For recent generations this way of life has been shaped by the breakdown of family ties. The family group has been dispersed to distant cities, and even when the family is together~ parents have a hard time finding enough time to devote to rearing their children. These life styles are also shaped by the constant barrage of images and sounds coming from television.

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The generation gap and international development

This tremendous information flow leaves behind a residue of grow- ing awareness, but its fragmented, disjointed presentation and constant change affords no opportunity for careful analysis of objective criticism.

There has been much discussion as to the merits and potentials of the modern communication media, but there has not been a thorough enough study of the degree to which the news media is used today in all countries, even those practising representative democracy, to mould our thoughts, tastes and emotions. We cannot help but remem- ber Vance Packard's warnings about the 'hidden persuaders' that continually work on our minds. The young feel this pressure, and they resist the idea of intellectual manipulation. They rebel against the system which tries to impose it.

The young hear the system in which they live glorified, but they see that it is far less perfect than what we claim. They are witnesses to the reality of poverty--even in the most industrially rich countriesmand they see the inequality of income, even in seemingly equalitarian States. They also see the rampant insanity of war of which they are the main victims, and they see corruption, despotism and the difference between what is practised and what is preached. Is it strange then, that they refuse to accept values revoked by deeds? Is it strange that they make their non-conformity to established order so clearly visible in their attempt to develop new attitudes toward life and ethics?

Two types of youth rebellions

The youth rebellion expresses itself in both philosophical and political movements. Participants in the former vent their protest by adopting values and patterns of behaviour, language, artistry, dress that distinguish them from the 'straight' society. They 'drop out' of society as we know it. Participants in political movements, on the other hand, generally strive actively to change society, to eliminate its vices and shortcomings, but they usually cannot propose clear-cut replace- ments for the old order.

Precisely because of their humanism and non-conformity youth movements initially emerge as philosophical expressions. They later acquire the characteristics of active struggle, calling first for univer- sky reform and then extending their demands to include whole-scale social reform. Both university reform movements and socio-polkical struggles evolve within an emotionally tense situation in which the

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Felipe Herrera

natural passions of youth lead to the adoption of uncompromising ideas and dogmatic convictions, which deafen them to logical argu- ment and objective evidence.

The present youth movement, which became almost entirely student-oriented in r968, did not begin in either the universities or political movements. From the mid-fifties onwards, the 'teddy-boys', the 'roods' and 'rockers' appeared in the United Kingdom; the nozum in the Netherlands, the halbstarks in the Federal Republic of Germany and the vitelloni in Italy. Akhough these groups adopted a variety of constantly changing attitudes, all of them consistently rejected a society that offered them neither a proper role nor social assimilation.

There were also groups of more serious intellectual calibre such as the Angry Young Men of British literature and theatre who ques- tioned the rationale of the industrial society. Later, the 'beat generation' appeared in the United States, and made a major contribution to the intellectual life of that nation. Rather than become expatriate dissenters, like the Lost Generation of the 192os, they called for com- plete withdrawal from modem society and everything associated with the 'business civilization'.

Perhaps the most interesting of these early movements was the provo group in the Netherlands, with its 'provotariat' concept that spread to neighbouring countries. These young people, far from dis- owning the basic premises of society, proposed certain changes in them. They launched campaigns in collaboration with older people for causes related to the service of humanity and social improvement, but they attacked the hypocrisy of a so-called %duk society' which allowed millions of children to die of hunger while millions of dollars were squandered in manufacturing instruments of mass annihilation.

The participation of universities in the current protest movement can be traced back to France and Belgium, where both professors and students began to express their reservations about the role universities were playing in society, and, in fact, the relevance of the university to society in general. The University of Nanterre studied with great care the manifesto of the Strasbourg movement, On Human Misery. Round tables at the universities of Caen and Amiens brought together some of the most brilliant professors in France in a pro- gramme of analysis and self-criticism designed to evolve in the heroic measures urgently required by the crucial problem of modern society. The faculty and research staff of the University of Brussels encour- aged and supported student protests; for example, the vice-rector of

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the University of Nancy went so far as to say, 'our programmes are insane'. However, the first open explosion of the protest movement was in the United States, not in Europe; it began in the University of California at Berkeley, in 1966, spreading afterwards to other American universities. The rebellion moved in several closely related fronts, protesting simnltaneously against university administration, the war in Viet-Nam and racial discrimination.

Ironically, the university rebellion, that had its intellectual roots in France, returned there in May 1968 with terrific resonance.

Along with student movements, the 'hippie' culture has arisen with its devotion to Bohemian existence, quasi-mysticism, pacifism, sex and hallucinogenic drugs, on the one hand, and direct, violent political action, disruption of political conventions and changing the status

quo, on the other. The movement has manifested itself importantly in the United States, Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany, and culminated in the great French student revolution of May 1968.

Historical precedents

A review of youth movements in the past reveals their striking similarities to those we are now witnessing. All display a broad basis of idealism, anxiety and human solidarity. All were emotionally im- passioned, and consequently, the leaders often tended to place greater value on a willingness to sacrifice for their ideas than on the ideas themselves. This was only a short step from the view that their cause was a divine mission and the conclusion that the destruction of the forces of evil justified any and all means or instruments. The review of past student movements also shows that they were seldom effective and often counter-productive.

At the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the young men of Florence, spurred on by the sermons of Savonarola, set out to destroy every trace of Renaissance luxury and worldliness. They attacked dis- tinguished elders and women of refinement, assaulted houses and palaces and burned the books of classical scholars and the paintings of great artists. This direct action by Florentine youth succeeded in temporarily banning prostitution and gambling, sending sinners to seek forgiveness in convents and even in intimidating some merchants into returning ill-gotten gains. Very soon the terror had reached such a pitch that a strong government took over, and the prophet himself was burnt to death.

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Felipe Herrera

William III of Prussia roused the enthusiastic support of the universities to the war of liberation against Napoleon, by offering representative government to a liberated Prussia. Once the victory had been won, however, the pledge was not honoured. The ensuing discontent generated and nourished the German student movement. This movement was inspired and directed by the writings of Fichte, who issued his Messages to the German Nation from the Berlin Academy between I8o 7 and z8o8. New student fraternities were formed and gained support. They adopted special ways os dressing and turned out in large numbers at the Wartburg Festival in 1817. By that time, they had developed a spirit bordering on fanatical terrorism. They sang anthems, pledged blood brotherhood, burned books and held mass, torch-light processions. They considered themselves a Federal Youth State and cursed the corrupt older generation. Their leader, Karl Fallen, taught that 'rebellion, the death of tyrants and all acts that are in daily life considered crimes are justified in the conquest os freedom'. In i8z8 student Karl Sands assassinated a Russophile playwright whom be believed epitomized the sins of the older generation. He was condemned to death, and this set off a wave of repression. By z 819, the German student movement had come to an end, and the liberal aspira- tions of the German people had been crushed for many years to come.

During the Central European revolutions of z 848, the idealism and courage of the students of Vienna, fighting shoulder to shoulder with workers, was exemplary. In recognition of this, they were assigned to positions of leadership, and for a few months the city was virtually in student hands. The students maintained their control until they adopted dictatorial methods, began a purge of their elders and condoned terrorist acts. This unleashed an uncontrollable anti-radical reaction that effectively frustrated what could have been a valuable reformation.

When the ascetic Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Archduke Franz Joseph in order to free Bosnia and Hersegovina, he unleashed instead one of the great slaughters of all times, the First World War.

There is no need to cite further examples; all of them bear out not only the ineffectiveness os extremism based on generational premises, but its counterproductiveness as well.

There are, os course, examples of youth movements which have succeeded through violence. Their goals, however, were national rather than generational in concept. By reflecting the consensus of various strata of society and by winning support from broad sectors of the population, they succeeded in gathering the ideological and human resources required to make a successful revolution.

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The situation in the less-developed nations

Some aspects of the generation gap are exclusively characteristic of highly industrialized societies, while other aspects appear in semi- industrialized nations. Among the latter, two problems distinctly characteristic of highly developed nations do not appear: the repudi- ation of traditional value systems and the abandonment of the family home in favour ofa Bohemiam life style. The philosophical and socio- logical expressions of the youth rebellion have not appeared in less- developed nations--at least, they are not evident in a startling degree. Political manifestations have occurred earlier in history and have been very intense.

Ultra-radical direct-action movements were present in Latin America before the formation of the New Left in industrial nations. The New Left has taken Latin-American movements as good examples, and they have adopted their heroes and martyrs. Latin- American movements also reflect a deep-rooted radicalism. They repudiate traditional Leftists far more than do the American and European youths, and they are more impatient and use violent tactics readily. Despite these differences, there are clear parallels between political youth movements in industrial and semi-industrial countries.

The result is that lesser-developed nations have not undergone the philosophical conflict between fathers and sons, which has caused the young to repudiate society and family. There are two basic reasons why this has not happened. First, competitive materialism has developed to a far lesser degree in agricultural nations than in industrial nations; having preserved spiritual values, the idealism of youth does not conflict with the materialism of the parent. The second expla- nation is a complement of the first: parents do not feel particularly proud of having developed a high degree of socio-economic progress in the nation. They are, in fact, dissatisfied at not having been able to effect changes themselves.

The natural dissatisfaction of youth does not conflict with the com- placent pride of parents; rather, it is supported by the parents, despite their resignation to fate. The philosophical differences between parents and children are minimal. In some instances, the parents themselves were youthful radicals and now join the young in the protest against a frustrating status quo.

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FelipeHerrera

The Latin-American experience

Latin-American youth movements have been led traditionally by students and, for the most part, students continue to lead them today. The involvement of Latin-American students in national affairs is fifty years old. The close relationship between student movements and political activity was not understood outside Latin America, but current developments in American and European universities show that our behaviour was less abnormal than believed originally.

The movement began with the I918 student strike in Cordoba, Argentina, where students and workers took to the streets to force university reform. Both groups were motivated by the social struggle of the first post-war period. The Cordoba Appeal found a favourable and immediate response in several universities. Thus, by means of strikes, meetings, seizures and debates, the 'New University' took shape throughout Latin America between I918 and z935. This led to university autonomy, student participation, free instruction and social benefits for students. The outstanding feature of the reformed institutions was their social orientation. The functions of the nineteenth- century university were expanded to include another basic function, social consciousness. This was manifested in university-extension services, hospital and dental facilities, scientific and medical works and many other examples of the university working to serve the com- munity in which it is located. This lends a meaningful and positive light to Latin-American university movements.

Despite organizational and institutional similarities, the different universities of Latin America maintained the strictly national charac- ter in which they were conceived in the nineteenth century. Even the Cordoba Appeal did not go beyond national goals. But, in the last decade we have witnessed the realization of such initiatives as the Union of Latin-American Universities, the Conference of Latin- American Faculties of Law and the revision of curriculum at all educational levels, which will help us decide finally exactly what the 'Latin-American University' really is. It is necessary to keep on making efforts to encourage the Latin-American universities to co- ordinate their teaching and work plans, to interchange their ideas and experiences and to consolidate an inteUectual corps which can be integrated into an 'International University', as proposed admirably by the former United Nations Secretary-General, U Thant. There the great minds of the world could search for the common goal of all men, peace and justice.

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The university corridors are the crucible in which the restlessness of today's youth is tested. There are, none the less, fissures in the university process which reduces its effectiveness as an instrument for preparing its students for life and reality: university reform seems essential, opening them to students of all ages and from all social strata, and relating them to the needs of society. Democracy in a university causes problems which in itself can breed discontent. It is impossible to accept the creation of a new social station, the university man, who at his parent's or the State's expense, dedicates himself to the study of nihilism.

For these reasons, one of the most urgent tasks before us is to discover what must be done, within the university and outside of it, to give young people sufficient preparation to enable them to become an effective and constructive force in the world.

The population explosion is not a theoretical question for the future. It is a real and vital problem; we must help those who are already born. Although the answer may seem simple, the truth is that we must stimulate accelerated processes for growth~ reform and mod- ernization at a pace until now unknown.

We must create, in far greater numbers than we have ever done, new work and vocational opportunities to absorb the constantly increasing labour force. We must also increase greatly the number of positions for new managerial personnel at all levels.

Between x96o and I966, enrolment in Latin-American universities rose at a cumulative annual rate of 9.5 per cent-- three times the total population growth. The university student body, estimated at 5zo,ooo in z96o, totaled 88o,ooo in I966. In an effort to set a proper evaluation of these figures, it is useful to compare them with the growth os the regional gross product. The difference approximately illustrates the volume of resources earmarked by each country to the expansion of higher education in relation to the funds allocated for social purposes. During z96o-66, the Latin-American gross domestic product rose by about 4.5 per cent a year, while enrolment growth rates exceeded 6 per cent in six countries and IO per cent in eleven countries. This indicates that these countries have been appropri- ating a volume os resources for higher education that would be very difficult to maintain under normal conditions. I f we consider that even with these extraordinary efforts, the coefficient of enrolment in education, compared with the developed countries is still low, we must despair os ever achieving the essential indices of educational absorp- tion in the region without a drastic reform of our economic system.

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Felipe Herrera

It is not merely a question of assuring every young person a good education. It is much more important to provide each young person with an adequate opportunity and sufficient motivation to participate voluntarily and willingly in collective endeavours.

In order to give each youngster an opportunity to employ his energy and talent to the fullest, the national economies must expand at a much more rapid pace than in the past. To induce this faster growth rate, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the development process, to formulate suitable policies and to apply these policies fully and consistently. Technicians like to think that the policies they ad- vocate are sound and that it is faulty application, by politicians and administrators, that is responsible for failures. Whoever is at fault, whatever is the fault, or wherever it lies, the new generation has lost faith in development policies and makes no fine distinctions among the origins of failure. We must recognize this and devise development policies suited to political realities.

I shall not discuss here concrete technical improvements that should be introduced in future development policies in order to make them more effective. I will confine myself to the presentation of two general observations that can help to attract the support of the new generations for development policies or, at least, to prevent their resistance and open hostility to them.

The first observation is that development policies must be formu- lated, studied, discussed and chosen within the developing countries themselves, and not predesigned abroad. When policies have not been thoroughly discussed and clearly understood then there is no full realization of their necessity; successful implementation cannot be achieved. Development policies cannot be either imported or imposed on a country. Political and economical philosophies and organizations should not and cannot be imposed from outside. The desire for change must come from within the country, and when it is recommended insistently from abroad, constructive projects, policies and programmes are doomed to failure. The reluctance to accept policies urgently recommended from abroad is common to all generations, but it is especially strong in the younger generation, which is particularly sensitive and aware of its own identity. Nationalism is the affirmation of a country's collective identity and is accordingly a strong emotion in citizens of all ages. It is even stronger in the young, and if we want to motivate youth to work enthusiastically for development, we must present development for what it really is, the great task of national aggrandizement.

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The second observation is that, up until a few years ago, prevailing opinion in both developed and developing countries was that the latter had to follow evolutionary patterns established in the former. Devel- oping nations had to develop not only advanced income-levels, but also acceptable forms of social and economic organization. Now the industrial society, as a model for development, is losing its attraction. The news constantly describes urban problems in the industrialized world; racial problems; rising crime rates and violence; inflation and balance-of-payments problems. The industrial world is no longer regarded as the pinnacle of perfection. Agricultural and semi- industrial countries are beginning to seek their own patterns of development and to design new social models copying the best features of industrial countries, but avoiding their flaws. This search for new patterns is a historic challenge that should kindle the enthusiasm of youth.

We must prove to the youth of our countries that development is the great challenge. We must no longer plan programmes for youth, but, as Unesco suggests, conduct programmes with youth. We must not train youth to conform to the status quo but, on the contrary, encourage their efforts and enthusiasm for building a new society within clearly defined parameters of economic and social organization.

Our young people must have new horizons of meaningful, generous, and heroic proportions. In the years ahead, nothing will be more likely to fulfil these criteria than the effort to carry out the over- whelming tasks of international development. Young people must be called upon to share an important role in this task. The adult generation should not decide unilaterally what role youth wiU play; youth must be urged to define its own role and to determine the image of the world it will inherit. The future of humanity will be only as promising as this dialogue proves workable and productive. 1

z. Request for permission to reproduce this article should be addressed to the Editor of Prospects.

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The generation gap and international development