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Chapter 8: The life course (8.2) -
The life course as a social process
- 1. Stages of development
appears to be biologically
fixed
- There is a singular set of
phase that all people go
through
- Progress through infancy,
childhood, youth, adulthood
and old age unless
something happens to cut
life short
- However - Evidence from
history and sociology
suggests this is too crude
a characterisation
- What appears to be a biological
progression of growth is actually a
social and psychological process that
can be called life course (Vincent '03,
Hunt '05 & Green '10)
- Sociologists research on the
broad variations
- Variation seen as
both cross culturally
& also within each
single society
- This variation tells us that
the life course is not
experienced in a
homogeneous way by all
people but rather
constructed differently in
distinct social settings
- Variation seen as
both cross culturally
& also within each
single society
- What appears to be a biological
progression of growth is actually a
social and psychological process that
can be called life course (Vincent '03,
Hunt '05 & Green '10)
- There is a singular set of
phase that all people go
through
- 2. Life course phases affected by
difference in belief systems across
cultures and economic situations
experiences
- Contemporary Western countries - death
associated with the aged, linked to life
expectancy in these nations
- In the past - Life expectancies have been much
lower and associated with younger people, it
had different meanings and assumptions
- Contemporary Western countries - death
associated with the aged, linked to life
expectancy in these nations
- 3. Other dimensions of
social life and
stratifications
- Class, gender,ethnicity plays
a role in the way life course is
experienced
- The interconnected forms
inequality is called
intersectionality* and
renders variation of
individuals lives
- The interconnected forms
inequality is called
intersectionality* and
renders variation of
individuals lives
- Class, gender,ethnicity plays
a role in the way life course is
experienced
- 4. As industrialization took hold in
UK, children of different classes
were subjected to different set of
expectations
- Eg - Children of privileged class -
their education extended well
from youth to early adulthood
whereas children from working
class entered labour market
(girls - domestic service, boys
mining)
- Thus, ideas on what people
ought to be like and do
according to biological age
differed according to groups,
they were not universal
- Eg - Children of privileged class -
their education extended well
from youth to early adulthood
whereas children from working
class entered labour market
(girls - domestic service, boys
mining)
- 5. Social Scientists looked at how the life
course in the contemporary world varies to
the social strata of class gender & ethnicity
- how the life course in the
contemporary world
varies to the social strata
of class gender &
ethnicity
- also, at how life course
differs over time/or
historically
- Groups of people born in the
same year are called 'Birth
cohorts'
- these groups experience
similar culture/ political
forces and will be
subject to the same
governmental practice
- through this
commonalities, the life
course they experience will
be similar
- An early sociologists
(Mannheim) argued:
Generations (groups of people
born in the same year/series of
years) have a common outlook
- Mannheim saw
generations as unified by
their similar place in
history
- He argued: a generational
identity was as impt as a class
identity in forming people's
ideas and values
- Generations sense their
situation in being unique
from other generations
- This gives rise to the
idea 'Generation gap'
- Generations sense their
situation in being unique
from other generations
- Mannheim saw
generations as unified by
their similar place in
history
- While a cohort is not
defined by having the
same perspective, a
generation is (Alwin et
al,2006)
- these groups experience
similar culture/ political
forces and will be
subject to the same
governmental practice
- how the life course in the
contemporary world
varies to the social strata
of class gender &
ethnicity
- 6. Social scientists
have identified the
distinctive beliefs of
- the baby boom
generation
(Gillon 2004)
- Those born in the 2 decades
after WW2, they have witnessed
a huge number of social
transformation
- Many western countries had a
dramatic increase in birth rates in
the prosperity after the war
- This large generational group
lived through many changes
- Technological (TV), Increased
disposable income for families,
new liberalization of interpersonal
relations
- Life of baby boomers
different from their
parents
- Part of their new
experience: Emergence of
the category of youth
- Technological (TV), Increased
disposable income for families,
new liberalization of interpersonal
relations
- Many western countries had a
dramatic increase in birth rates in
the prosperity after the war
- Mannheim viewed this
generation as unique
which changed the
society
- He sees the generation as
analogous to social classes
because of the 2 fold way - 1.
They bring about social
change, 2. Impact on
identities and social life
- Read Giddens : pg 334 - 340
- He sees the generation as
analogous to social classes
because of the 2 fold way - 1.
They bring about social
change, 2. Impact on
identities and social life
- Those born in the 2 decades
after WW2, they have witnessed
a huge number of social
transformation
- 'Beat' generation
(Charters 2001)
- Various others :
'hippy gen, Gen X,
Gen Y"
- the baby boom
generation
(Gillon 2004)
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