Cleavages and Political Transformations

Abstract

This chapter will describe the life course as a perspective on the way human beings live across time and place, and in particular how life course researchers study the ways time and place shape individuals and the ways individuals also shape their times and places. A diverse and changing Europe situated within an ever-more connected world makes this perspective supremely valuable. In this chapter I first describe the life course as an orienting strategy for social science research, next lay out its primary concepts and relationships, and then finally give examples of research and findings that use a life course perspective to help explain contemporary European lives.