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In the context of policy recommendations to re-establish intergenerational equity this thesis enquires into the ways in which intergenerational relations in Germany became framed by the metaphor of the generational contract. Taking gender as an analytical tool, the thesis explored the discursive repertoires of generation and contract in a historical perspective. On this basis social contract theories are analysed with respect to the conflicting justifications they establish for the regulation of intergenerational relations. The analysis then focuses on how generational politics in the German welfare state drew on these justifications and how the generational contract came to be associated with fraud. It is argued that the ruse of the metaphor of the generational contract was its claim to embody social solidarity 'for all' Germans, while constituting and maintaining divisions of gender and social class in and by a social insurance system tailored to the male life course. Women's positioning in the proposed measures to restructure the generational contract reveals its inherent multiplicity and contradictory structure. Arguing that intergenerational relationships in families have been mostly taken for granted, the thesis develops the heuristic framework of kinscripts in order to analyse the micro-politics of intergenerational commitments of members of two family generations that are cast as antagonists in the alleged resource competition: women of the welfare generation and their adult children. Deploying an innovative set of methods based on the problem-centred interview the empirical analysis produced rich evidence of the ambivalences of intergenerational commitments, their continuities and changes. The analysis uncovers the social logic of 'contracts of need' shaped by situational and contextual pressures and the constraints and possibilities that kin networks opened up for women in post-war Germany. In contrast the narratives of the adult children reveal as yet a more symbolic meaning of intergenerational relations although in the anticipation of parental care needs gendered and classed responsibilities reappeared. On the basis of the theoretical and empirical findings it is argued that the frame of generational accounting systems has to be broadened to include kin work. Implications for multigenerational social policies are outlined.

This thesis investigates how social values align with changing patterns of economic development, work and quality of life in the European knowledge society. Conceptually, the thesis draws upon Richard Florida's Theory of the Creative Class (2002) and Human Values Theory as developed by Shalom Schwartz (1992). The research combines different methodological approaches and is structured in three parts. The first study involves a secondary data analysis of the European Social Survey that includes Schwartz's value inventory and other value related items. It aims at mapping the values of Florida's three key occupational groups: knowledge, service and manufacturing workers. While manufacturing workers were found to be distinct from knowledge and service workers, the latter two categories were rather similar. In addition, a mixture of liberal and traditional values characterised knowledge workers' value systems. Little empirical support was found for Schwartz's circumplex structure of values. The second part of the thesis, using two split-ballot experiments and cognitive interviews, explores the role of context in the conceptualisation and study of values. Drawing on the concept of 'behavioural spheres' (Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, 1961), the operation of values in the familial, recreational and occupational sphere is examined. The findings show that many values demonstrated context specificity. In-depth interviews with Greek and British knowledge and service workers constitute the third and final study. I examine how workers' valuing processes delineate their creative endeavours to construct the meaning of work and good life, as embedded in the wider societal, economic, political and work contexts. Creativity focuses on how workers, create value meanings and enact values, combine different roles, make sense of their living and the world and deal with adversities. It was shown that the ability to transform work into a meaningful activity is not restricted to knowledge workers. The findings altogether did not corroborate Florida's proposal of an emerging creative class with distinct value orientations and Schwartz's model of a structure of universal values, captured in a set of binary oppositions. A range of challenges for policy making in the knowledge society is implied when authenticity rather than creativity - as defined by Florida- was found to delineate the European work ethos.

This study investigates HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and practices among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). A hospital-based survey of (n=292) PLWHA in Tamil Nadu, using both quantitative and qualitative techniques, was the first of its kind to be conducted in India in 1999. The study represents a contribution to knowledge, being one of very few studies of PLWHA in India. The main sources of reported HIV knowledge among PLWHA were discussions with peers, community members, other hospital patients, and friends, for both men and women (80% and 79%, respectively). Latent class analysis of correct knowledge showed that 76% of respondents had high knowledge of sex-related transmission and 86% had high knowledge of blood-related transmission. Education was an important predictor of knowledge for women. Contrary to socio-cultural norms, ever-married male respondents reported relatively high levels of premarital sex (80%) and extra marital sex (49%). This study examined reported behaviour changes post-diagnosis with a positive prevention focus, including condom use. A large majority of PLWHA had heard about condoms (94% men, 81% women) and their use as a prophylaxis for HIV/AIDS. However, only 35% of men (excluding high-risk occupation groups) reported ever-use of condoms. Qualitative evidence revealed that reported consistent condom use did not, in fact, mean every single time they had sex. Culture was intricately interwoven with attitudes and behaviours reported by PLWHA and experiential knowledge influenced attitudes towards possible behaviour change. This research suggests the need to shift HIV/AIDS prevention models from biomedical to models more closely situated in their socio-economic and cultural context. In particular, behaviour change communication (BCC) models for positive prevention in India.

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