Abstract:

Cultural identities and practices of the young people are being shaped by many various aspects, the most significant being economic conditions of the country and region, national, regional and local cultural policies, the socio-cultural environment of the specific region, and multiple interactions in the framework of the procedural model “family – school – society”. A person’s self-perception and self-identification begin in the informal family context where children start to develop their main principles of life and belief structures, to embrace the traditions and norms of their parents and grandparents, to follow the specific life-style pattern as well as to define a sense of belonging towards a specific culture. The aim of the research is to analyse family as an informal site of cultural socialization and intergenerational communication and the role of family settings in shaping young people’s cultural identities and their practices of cultural participation. The empirical data for the research have been obtained from 10 family case studies – 25-30 intergenerational semi-structured in-depth interviews – in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas of Latvia. Family site is an effective environment for the development of youth cultural knowledge and for sustaining a productive inter-cultural dialogue, therefore there is a need to raise the profile and significance of family settings as informal (educational and social-cultural) contexts. The research has been carried out in the framework of the project “Cultural Heritage and Identities of Europe’s Future" (CHIEF) supported by EU Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 and conducted across nine countries.

Keywords:

Family, youth, intergenerational dialogue, culture, cultural identity, cultural context.