Abstract
As noted, the literature on rites of passage has provided one of the traditional bases for studies of the life course. Within this, the life course is represented as a series of relatively fixed stages — infancy, childhood, adulthood and old age — through which individuals pass as they grow older. Yet, once we begin to work with historical material within one society we cannot explain differences in conceptualisations and experiences of the life course purely in terms of cultural and geographical distance. Rather, we have to account for change — not just within the individual life course — but also change in the shape of the life course itself. That is to say, it is not only individuals who change, but also the categories they inhabit.
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© 2003 Jenny Hockey and Allison James
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Hockey, J., James, A. (2003). Histories of the Life Course. In: Social Identities across the Life Course. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-1399-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-1399-9_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-91284-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4039-1399-9
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