Generational Consciousness and Youth Movement Participation: Contrasts in Blue Collar and White Collar Youth¹

The spread of youth‐group consciousness and counterculture behavior during the 1960s is accounted for by two competing theoretical rationales: the “movement sweep” and the “blend” theses. This study explores the development of youth stratum consciousness in four groups of youth: white collar and blue collar students and nonstudents. The research employs a social movement paradigm suggesting an explicit developmental sequence from initial awareness through crystallized ideology and behavior expression. The attempt to operationalize generational consciousness based on Mannheim's definition was partially successful. The data clearly provide little support for the “sweep” thesis of youth movement phenomena, but do suggest some confirmation for the “blend” perspective.