Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Toward a Global Geography of the Life Course

Challenges of Late Modernity for Life Course Theory

  • Chapter
Handbook of the Life Course

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

From the beginning, social change has been a central theme of work in the life course tradition (Cain, 1964; Elder, 1974, 1975; Elder & Crosnoe, this volume; Giele & Elder, 1998). In the present historical moment, we are confronted with processes of social transformation and knowledge transformation that are likely to change the enterprise of life course studies itself. In this chapter, I sketch some dimensions of the present situation that may impel such change. This task necessarily assumes a reasonably clear statement of how one conceptualizes “the life course” as an area of study. As this volume powerfully attests, the life course area encompasses a richly diverse and sometimes incommensurate set of questions, methods and principles. Clearly, it is a term that embodies multiple intellectual perspectives.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bachrach, C. B. Hindin, M. J., & Thomson, E. (2000). The changing shape of the ties that bind: An overview and synthesis. In L. J. Waite, C. Bachrach, M. Hindin, E. Thomson, & A. Thornton (Eds.), The ties that bind: Perspectives on marriage and cohabitation, (pp. 3–17). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, U., & Beck-Gernsheim, E. (1996). Individualization and ‘precarious freedoms’. Perspectives and controversies of a subject-orientated sociology. In P. Heelas, S. Lasch, & P. Morris (Eds.), Detraditionalization: Critical reflections of authority and identity. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bing, L. (1991). Do or die. New York: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, J., & Haan, N. (1984). Lives through time. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bumpass, L., & Lu, H. (1999). Trends in cohabitation and implications for children’s family contexts in the U.S. Working Paper 98-15. Madison: University of Wisconsin, Center for Demography and Ecology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton, L. (1996). Age norms, the timing of family role transitions, and intergenerational caregiving among aging African-American women. The Gerontologist, 36(2), 199–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, L. D. (1964). Life course and social structure. In R. E. L. Faris (Ed.), Handbook of modern sociology. Chicago: Rand, McNally.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (1993). When do individual differences matter? A paradoxical theory of personality coherence. Psychological Inquiry 4, 247–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (2000). The network society, (2nd edn). Maiden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (2001). The internet galaxy. New York: Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clausen, J. (1995). American lives: Looking back at the children of the Great Depression. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crystal, S., & Waehrer, K. (1996). Late life economic inequality in longitudinal perspective. Journal of Gerontology, Social Sciences, 51B, S307–S318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1987). Aging as intracohort differentiation: Accentuation, the Matthew Effect, and the life course. Sociological Forum, 2, 211–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1988). Differential aging and the stratified life course: Conceptual and methodological issues. In G. L. Maddox & M. P. Lawton (Eds.), Annual Review of Gerontology, 8 (pp. 3–36). New York: Springer Publishing Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1993). When does society matter for individual differences? Implications of a counterpart paradox. Psychological Inquiry, 4, 281–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (1999). Freedom isn’t free: Power, alienation and the consequences of action. In J. Brandstadter & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Action and self-development: Theory and research through the life span. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (2000). Paradox of opportunity: Education, work and age integration in the United States and Germany. The Gerontologist, 40, 282–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D. (2002). Whose life course is it, anyway? In R. Settersten (Ed.), Invitation to the life course. Amityville, NY: Baywood.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dannefer, D., & Uhlenberg, P. (1999). Paths of the life course: A typology. In V. L. Bengtson & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of theories of aging: In honor of Jim Birren. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H., Jr. (1974). Children of the Great Depression: Social change in life experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H., Jr. (1975). Age differentiation and the life course. Annual review of sociology, 1, 165–190. Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H. Jr. (1998). The life course and human development. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology, Vol 1. Theoretical models for human development, (pp. 939–991). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H., Jr., & Liker, J. (1982). Hard times in women’s lives: Historical differences across 40 years. American Journal of Sociology, 58, 241–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellwood, W., & Crump, A. (Eds.) (1999). A to Z of world development. Oxford: Oxfam Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Anderson, G. (1997). Welfare states at the end of the century: The impact of labour market, family and demographic change. In Hennesy & M. Peersen (Eds.), Family, market and community: Equity and efficiency in social policy. Paris: OECD, Social Policy Studies no. 21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, L. (1979). The aging enterprise. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foner, N. (1993). When the contract fails: Care for the elderly in nonindustrial cultures. In V. L. Bengtson & W A. Achenbaum (Eds.), The changing contract across generations. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fry, C. L. (1992) Changing age structures and the mediating effects of culture. In W. J. A. van den Hevel, R. Illsley, A. Jamiesen, & C. P. M. Knipscheer (Eds.), Opportunities and challenges in an aging society. Amsterdam: Royal Academy of Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furlong, A., & Cartmel, F. (1997). Young people and social change: Individualisation and risk in late modernity. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity, Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1994). Living in a post-traditional society. In U. Beck, S. Lash, & A. Giddens (Eds.), Reflexive modernization (pp. 56–109). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giele, J. Z., & Elder, G. H., Jr. (1998). Methods of life course research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagestad, G. O. (1998). Towards a society for all ages: New thinking, new language, new conversations. Bulletin on Aging, 2/3, 7–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagestad, G. O., & Dannefer, D. (2001). Concepts and theories of aging: Beyond microfication in social science approaches. In R. Binstock & L. George (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (2nd edn). New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagestad, G. O., & Neugarten, B. (1985). Age and the life course. In E. Shanas & R. Binstock (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (2nd edn). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, D. (1989). The condition of postmodernity. Maiden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henretta, J. C. (1992). Uniformity and diversity: Life course institutionalization and late-life work exit. The Sociological Quarterly, 33, 265–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henretta, J. C. (2001). Work and retirement. In R. Binstock & L. George (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (2nd edn). New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogan, D. (1981). Transitions and social change: The early lives of American men. New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labor Organization. (1999). Child labor: Targeting the intolerable. International Labour Conference, 86th Session, 1998. Report VI, Part 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kett, J. (1977). Rites of passage: Adolescence in America, 1790-1920. New York: Basic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohli, M. (1999.) Private and public transfers between generations: Linking the family and the state. European Societies, 1, 81–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohli, M., & Rein, M. (1991). The changing balance of work and retirement. In M. Kohli, M. Rein, A.-M. Guillemard, & H. van Gunsteren (Eds.), Time for Retirement. New York: Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohli, M., & Meyer, J. W. (1986). Social structure and the social construction of life stages. Human Development, 29, 145–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotlowitz, A. (1992). There are no children here. New York: Anchor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemoine, M. (1985). Bitter sugar: Slaves today in the Caribbean. Chicago: Banner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, K. U., & Muller, W. (1986). The state and the structure of the life course. In A. B. Sorensen, F. E. Weinert, & L. R. Sherrod (Eds.), Human development and the life course: Multidisciplinary perspectives Hillsdale, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J. W. (1986). The Self and the Life Course: Institutionalization and its Effects. In A. B. Sorensen, F. E. Weinert, & L. R. Sherrod (Eds.), Human development and the life course: Multidisciplinary perspectives. (pp. 209–221). Hillsdale, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDevitt, T. M., Adlakha, A., Fowler, T. B. & Harris-Bourne, V. (1996). Trends in adolescent fertility and contraceptive use in the developing world, IPC/95-1. Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

    Google Scholar 

  • Micklethwait, J., & Wooldridge, A. (2000). A future perfect: The challenge and hidden promise of globalization. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Modell, J., Furstenberg, F., & Strong, D. (1978). The timing of marriage in the transition to adulthood: Continuity and change. American Journal of Sociology, 84, 120–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morss, J. (1996). Growing critical: Alternatives to developmental psychology. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myles, J. (1989). Old age in the welfare state. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rand, A. M. (1996). The precious and the precocious: Understanding cumulative disadvantage and cumulative advantage over the life course. The Gerontologist, 36, 230–238.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Rand, A. M., & Henretta, J. C. (1999). Age and inequality: Diverse pathways through later life. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson, C, Bernard, M., Phillips, J., & Ogg, J. (2001). The family and community life of older people: Social support and social networks in three urban areas. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Postman, N. (1994). The disappearance of childhood. New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preston, S. (1984). Children and the elderly in the U.S. Scientific American, 251, 44–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy, Y. R. H. (1995). Bonded labour sytem in India. New Delhi: Deep & Deep.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley, M. W., & Foner, A. (2001). Sociology of age. In N. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of behavioral and social sciences, Vol. 1 (pp. 275–278). London: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley, M. W, Johnson, M. E., & Foner, A. (1972). Aging and society, Vol. Ill: A sociology of age stratification. New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley M. W., Kahn, R., & Ferner, A. (1994). Age and structural lag: Society’s failure to provide meaningful opportunities in work, family and leisure. New York: Wiley-Interscience.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley, M. W., Riley, J., & Foner, A. (1999). The aging and society paradigm. In V. L. Bengtson & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of theories of aging: In honor of Jim Birren. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarason, S. B. (1977). Work, aging and social change: Professionals and the one life—one career imperative. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seabrook, J. (1996). In the cities of the South: Scenes from a developing world. London: Verso Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seabrook, J. (2000). No hiding place: Child sex tourism and the role of extraterritorial legislation. Amsterdam: ECPAT Europe Law Enforcement Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, M. J. (2000). Pathways to adulthood in changing societies: Variability and mechanisms in life course perspective. Annual review of sociology, 26, 667–692. Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, M. J., Elder, G. H., Jr., & Miech, R. A. (1997) History and Agency in Men’s Lives: Pathways to Achievement in Cohort Perspective. Sociology of Education, 70(1), 54–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, M. J., Sulloway, F. J., & Hofer, S. M. (2000). Change and constancy in developmental contexts. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 24, 421–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, H. L., Morgan, S. P., & Koropeckyj-Cox, T. (1996). A Decomposition of trends in the nonmarital fertility ratios of blacks and whites in the United States, 1960-1992. Demography.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soros, G. (2001). On globalization. New York: Public Affairs/Perseus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. E. (2002). Globalization and its discontents. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, T. (2002). The truth about globalization. The public interest, 147(Spring), 21–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, W. I., & Znaniecki, F. (1918). The Polish peasant in Europe and America. Chicago: University of Chicago gress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhlenberg, P. (1978). Changing configurations of the life course. In T. K. Hareven (Ed.), Transitions: The family and the life course in historical perspective (pp. 65–87). New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Congress. (1994a.) By the sweat and toil of children: A report to the Committees on Appropriations, Volume I: The use of child labor in American imports. Washington, D.C: The Bureau.

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Congress. (1994b.) By the sweat and toil of children: A report to the Committees on Appropriations, Volume II: The use of child labor in U.S. agricultural imports and forced and bonded child labor. Washington, DC: The Bureau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, M. (1991). The child and the state in India—child labor and education policy in comparative perspective. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winn, M. (1984). Children without childhood: Growing up too fast in a world of sex and Drugs. New York: Viking Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, A., & Kohli, M. (2001). European societies: Inclusions/exclusions? In A. Woodward & M. Kohli (Eds.), Inclusions and exclusions in European societies, (pp. 1–17). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, 14627

    Dale Dannefer

Authors
  1. Dale Dannefer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Jeylan T. Mortimer

  2. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

    Michael J. Shanahan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2003 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dannefer, D. (2003). Toward a Global Geography of the Life Course. In: Mortimer, J.T., Shanahan, M.J. (eds) Handbook of the Life Course. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48247-2_29

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48247-2_29

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-306-47498-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-306-48247-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation