LEGACIES · Material and environmental legacies in the 21st century: a theory of legacy-making between generations

Human legacies are more important and influential than ever before because the window of opportunity for generational interaction has been greatly extended due to longer life expectancies, and because legacies assume unprecedented importance in a world marked by inequality and environmental degradation. The LEGACIES project arises from my original proposition that legacies are not only posthumous and concern older people and their heirs, but they are dynamic intergenerational processes comprising material and immaterial dimensions. Material legacies (wealth, assets) that are transferred from one generation to the next are growing, greater in volume than ever, and highly influential in shaping life courses. In addition to material inheritance we also leave immaterial legacies (values manifest in actions), the most pressing of these being our environmental legacies. The LEGACIES project will break new ground in understanding the intertwined material and environmental legacies that pass between co-existing generations. My approach is inherently high-risk due to its novelty in straddling multiple generations and the societal and environmental spheres in diverse contexts. The potential scientific gains from this research connect to wide-reaching implications. Shedding light on what drives older generations’ legacy-making practices will allow a better understanding of the dynamics of inequality. Understanding the interconnectedness of environmental and material legacies will elucidate choices such as deciding against having children and their ramifications on inheritance practices. Illuminating how environmental legacies are shaped through generational interaction will better equip us to formulate effective agendas for combating environmental degradation. The LEGACIES project will yield concepts and theory essential for explicating how strategies and practices at the micro level reflect and shape the greatest challenges that humans and the natural environment face.