Considering Life Course Concepts

I N limning the etymology of the concept of the life course, Alwin makes a number of prime points and paves the way toward further conceptual development. For me, one of the more prominent takeaway messages is that there is no standard model—to borrow a phrase from particle physics. He makes clear that life course analysis is not an exact science, and, sticking with the same analogy for a bit longer, there is a hierarchical problem in explaining the fluidity in the constellation of factors influencing life courses. Some things matter more for some than for others or else deflect trajec-tories in some instances in such a way that it is a challenge to explain the resulting disparities. Alwin proffers a Baedeker's guide that will help focus the métier of social gerontologists as they attempt to make sense of the life course. No doubt the debate about whether there is a " theory of the life course " will persist but what we have with Alwin's exegesis is a closer handle on evaluating what is variously said to be a perspective, paradigm, or theory. Fundamentals of a Life Course Perspective Examining the life course is about analyzing change. From birth until death lives are in flux. A life course perspective is about examining changes, whether they be biological , developmental (including social and psychological factors), historical, or geographic and attempting to identify which factors affect the arc of change, and what transformations change bring. Some of what goes on occurs because of intrinsic dynamics called ontogenetic forces that are inherent, built into our biology, and moving us along life's path. Some change can be attributed to when, where, and how we live, who we are, and where we fit into the social structures in which we are ensconced. Many scholars assert the ways we grow up and grow old are socially constructed, nor-mative, or prescriptive. Yet, because humans are sentient beings, we do not just take change as given, we impose meaning on it and bend it to our purposes—of course we take direction from it as well. In a manner of speaking, under optimal circumstances, we reinvent ourselves with each transition as transformed meanings take shape. Of course, optimal circumstances are neither equitably distributed nor sometimes even possible. In each of the five variations outlined in Alwin's essay, it is clear that a life course perspective allows us to …