Continuity and Change In the Life Course

Life courses have transformed significantly in the modernization process. As symbolized by the First and Second Demographic Transitions, the sweeping wave of modernization has brought about certain common outcomes in life courses. In particular, the First Modernity represented a shift toward homogeneity, while the Second Modernity represented a shift toward diversity. What changes in individual life courses do the macro-level trends actually reflect? In this session, we will focus on individuals who lived through the tumultuous modern era. By examining the life courses of specific, concrete individuals—those with distinct characters, such as those belonging to specific generations, genders, countries, regions, religions, or ethnic groups and so on—we aim to explore how these life courses are connected to the broader current of modernization. Therefore, for this session, we welcome papers based on concrete analyses using sources that allow for the reconstruction of specific life courses, such as interview data, diary entries, autobiographies, and long-term population registers and so on. Furthermore, if possible, we hope participants will link their micro-level analyses to macro-level trends and discuss the continuity and change in the life courses. At the conclusion of the session, we will examine individual studies from a comparative perspective, reflect on the impact that the great wave of modernity had on each region, and reconsider the very nature of modernization.