Abstract
Plurality and difference between women has been stressed in feminist research. There has, however, not been as much attention to differences related to age. Women's lives change during their lifetimes, but change also takes place from one generation to the next, especially during rapid modernisation processes. New lifestyles may affect relationships between women of different generations. Thus social change allocating higher status and more freedom of action to one age group may affect the distribution of privileges and status among women. The article analyses social change in relation to the rapid industrialisation process taking place in Southeast Asia, in this case in Malaysia. A life story approach is used to study how ongoing change affects the lives of women and the relationships between women.