This introductory book provides an insight into sociological life course
research and informs about its theoretical assumptions, analytical
concepts and main results.
Sociological life course research - like biographical research - has
developed into an independent and fruitful field of research since the
end of the 1960s. It is true that half a century earlier, in their
famous study of "The Polish Peasant in Europe and America" (1918-20),
Thomas and Znaniecki had already used life records to examine the
connection between social change, social structures, and the life
histories of individuals. However, such a research perspective was
supplanted by other methodological-conceptual approaches to empirical
social research for over fifty years. It was not until the 1960s that
sociological interest in life course and biographical theoretical issues
reawakened. Today, life course research is considered one of the most
important conceptual innovations in sociology in recent decades.
The content
The life course as a social construction - What is "life course
research"? - The life course as an institution - Collective life
courses: generations, cohorts and social change - Structures of the life
course - Life course research - a conceptual perspective - Life course
research, quo vadis?
The author
Prof. Dr. Matthias Wingens teaches sociology at the University of
Bremen, Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences
(BIGSSS).
