Social Structure and Social Construction of Life Stages

Abstract

The articles in this symposium discuss how the life course has changed in the Western modernization process, how the social construction of the life course and of life stages can be theoretically conceptualized, and what empirical grounding there is for decisions between alternative theories. In the introduction, emphasis is put on the growing institutionalization of the life course during the last centuries and on its structural basis in the development of the economy and the state. The institutional account given by sociology and history is contrasted with the tradition of human development thinking in psychology. Riley addresses these questions within her seminal concept of age stratification. She is especially concerned with the dynamic interplay between aging and social change, and gives several concrete examples for how it has worked to produce changes in life stages. Mayer starts with the example of life course organization in a simple society and argues that even in modern society – in spite of individualization and the broadening of opportunities for choice – there are still strong structural constraints on the life course. He points out four of them: institutional careers, state intervention, cumulative contingencies, and collective cohort conditions. Held takes issue with the thesis of a growing institutionalization of the life course. He shows that it has to be qualified in several respects, and that there is recent evidence suggesting that the institutionalization process has come to a halt. Hareven argues that historically the family was the locus for life course transitions, and presents findings on historical changes in perceptions of the life course and attitudes towards assistance to older people.

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