@Bruckner2005

De-Standardization of the Life Course: What it Might Mean? And if it Means Anything, Whether it Actually Took Place?

(2005) - Hannah Brückner, Karl Ulrich Mayer

Journal: Advances in Life Course Research
Link:: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040260804090021
DOI:: 10.1016/S1040-2608(04)09002-1
Links::
Tags:: #paper #LifeCourse #SocialTheory
Cite Key:: [@Bruckner2005]

Abstract

We explore both conceptually and empirically whether and how precise meanings and measures can be attached to recent ideas about the transformation of the life course. With data from the German Life History Study (GLHS), we assess social change in the transition to adulthood for birth cohorts born between 1921 and 1971, focusing on the de-standardization hypothesis. While we see increasing de-coupling of events in the connections between the school–training–work nexus and family formation, the institutional environment continues to structure the schooltraining–work nexus and not much change was seen in the way in which cohort members undergo these transitions. On the contrary, there is actually a homogenization as women’s and men’s life courses converge in terms of education and labor force participation. It is the family formation nexus that shows the most pronounced changes. This is also the realm in which gender differences persist across cohorts. While we find strong evidence for period effects that produce inter-cohort differences in life course patterns, taken as a whole our indicators do not point to a general process of a de-standardization of the life course.

Notes

“We explore both conceptually and empirically whether and how precise meanings and measures can be attached to recent ideas about the transformation of the life course.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 27) Secondary aim for my phd? Challnege the notion that transitions have become destandardised...

“While we see increasing de-coupling of events in the connections between the school–training–work nexus and family formation, the institutional environment continues to structure the schooltraining–work nexus and not much change was seen in the way in which cohort members undergo these transitions. On the contrary, there is actually a homogenization as women’s and men’s life courses converge in terms of education and labor force participation” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 27)

“there is actually a homogenization as women’s and men’s life courses converge in terms of education and labor force participation” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 27)

“That lives have become less predictable, less collectively determined, less stable, less orderly, more flexible, and more individualized has become one of the most commonly accepted perceptions of advanced societies (Held, 1986; Buchmann, 1989; Myles, 1993).” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 28)

“More generally, the traditional sequence of life stages into education, work and retirement is said to have given way to a de-standardized life course where people go back to education after periods of work, take sabbaticals, change occupations in midlife and combine work and leisure in prolonged transitions to final retirement (Riley, Kahn, & Foner, 1994)” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 28)

“De-standardized life courses, then, are fundamental tenets of both theories of Post-Fordism and theories of post-industrialism” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 28)

“What distinguishes ‘‘modern’’ life courses from more ‘‘traditional’’ ones? Some of the answers given were that life courses had become ‘‘institutionalized’’ as part and parcel of the life discipline imposed by industrial work (Hareven, 1981, 1986; Anderson, 1985; Kohli, 1985) or that lives had become more predictable because cycles of poverty (Rowntree, 1914; Myles, 1993) – which characterized manual worker’s lives until the last mid-century – had gradually vanished with rising standards of living and increasing protection by the welfare state (Mayer & Mu ̈ ller, 1986; Mayer & Schoepflin, 1989).” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 29)

“Many different processes were thought to contribute to more institutionalized, more predictable and more ‘‘standardized’’ lives (Mayer & Mu ̈ ller, 1986). First, the expansion of secondary and tertiary education and training created career paths within and between educational institutions.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 29)

“First, the expansion of secondary and tertiary education and training created career paths within and between educational institutions.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 29)

“Second, larger work organizations, strong trade unions, and an increased prevalence of white-collar jobs enlarged the prevalence and length of working lives characterized as ‘‘careers.’’” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 29)

“Third, the provisions of the welfare state institutionalized new kinds of statuses and events, like sick leave, maternity leave or child leave, and fostered continuity in lives by buffering the impact of income loss due to adverse events like unemployment or illness or old age” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 29)

“Finally, the relative security of income, employment and career advancement supported early marriage and a larger number of children (EspingAndersen, 1999).” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 29)

“While ideas of standardization and institutionalization had a powerful sociohistorical logic, the latter years of the 1980s saw the accumulation of observations which ran counter to the standardization thesis (Held, 1986; Buchmann, 1989; Kohli, 1986, 1989).” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 29)

“This increasing ‘‘disorderliness’’ in young adult lives was believed to result from educational expansion and the inflation of educational credentials, which in turn delayed or jeopardized labor market integration. Some went so far as to describe educational institutions as ‘‘waiting halls’’ (Boudon, 1974; Freeman, 1976; Bu ̈ chel, Grip, & Mertens, 2003).” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 30)

“It is this curious mixture of value changes, opportunities and adaptive constraints, which fostered the topoi of the ‘‘postponed generation’’ (Mayer, 1994, 1995), and ‘‘individualized’’ or ‘‘patchwork’’ biographies (Beck, 1986).” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 30)

“early 1990s, belief in these tendencies continued but was gradually supplanted by perceptions of massive impacts of the forces of globalization, particularly increased international competition, labor market de-regulation and structural unemployment (Mills & Blossfeld, 2003). What some viewed in the 1970s and 1980s as a widening of life pathways due to new options were reinterpreted in the 1990s as difficult adaptations to external constraints (Becker & Hermkens, 1993).” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 30)

“hat some viewed in the 1970s and 1980s as a widening of life pathways due to new options were reinterpreted in the 1990s as difficult adaptations to external constraints (Becker & Hermkens, 1993).” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 30) This is more my interpretation

“n sum, the course of more than 30 years gave rise to a number of different macro-social and macro-economic conditions that are widely believed to have had strong impacts in making life courses less conventional, less standardized, less collectively patterned, less predictable and more exposed to risks both in the public and in the private sphere” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 31)

“Several concepts are often used interchangeably and indiscriminately to capture salient historical changes in life course patterns. These include ‘‘(de-) institutionalization’’ (Mayer & Mu ̈ ller, 1986), ‘‘(de-) standardization’’ (Modell et al., 1976), ‘‘individualization’’ (Beck, 1986), ‘‘pluralization’’ (versus ‘‘homogenization’’) (Zapf, 1987), and ‘‘(de-) differentiation (Mayer, 1991). We suggest that this list of concepts actually taps dimensions that can vary independently from each other and should therefore be distinguished from each other.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 31)

“The institutionalization of life courses refers to the process by which normative, legal or organizational rules define the social and temporal organization of human lives.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 32)

“he institutionalization of life courses refers to the process by which normative, legal or organizational rules define the social and temporal organization of human lives. It can refer to stages or states in lives which can be formally or informally decreed like marriage, education, and retirement. It can also refer to events and transitions like leaving school, entry into and exits from labor contracts, or ages of pension entitlements. Kohli (1985) maintains that modern life courses have become a modus of ‘‘Vergesellschaftung’’, that is, of socialization, social integration and social control, and that they have become as, if not more, important than class structures.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 32)

“It can refer to stages or states in lives which can be formally or informally decreed like marriage, education, and retirement.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 32)

“Conversely, de-institutionalization would then mean that states, stages, events, and transitions, which at earlier times were clearly differentiated, are being reintegrated or fused. One case in point is education and work, which in some countries including the U.S., have come to be highly synchronous activities rather than clearly separate life stages (Shanahan, 2000)” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 32)

“The standardization of life courses refers to processes by which specific states or events and the sequences in which they occur become more universal for given populations or that their timing becomes more uniform. An example of a highly standardized life course pattern would be, for instance, if all workers retire and all retire at age 65.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 32)

“Differentiation refers to the process where the number of distinct states or stages across the life time increases. For instance, Mayer (1991) has claimed that early life courses become more and more institutionally differentiated. They are increasingly divided up in publicly defined and recognized periods like pre-school, kindergarten, elementary school, secondary education and tertiary education. Likewise, a process where firm tenure with only one or very few employers has been gradually replaced by frequent shifts between firms could be called a differentiation of the work life (Mertens, 1998).” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 33)

“pluralization (Zapf, 1987) is usually used to refer to an increase in the synchronous number of states or forms of life activity in a given population or even a given person. Pluralization has mostly been applied to family forms. This refers to the rise of non-marital unions, the increase of persons becoming divorced, increases in the number of single mothers or persons living alone due to divorce or widowhood.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 33)

“Finally, the term individualization (Beck, 1986; Junge, 2002; Schimank, 2002; Wohlrab-Sahr, 1992) is frequently invoked to refer to many of the changes mentioned above. It is a more interpretative concept according to which individuals are assumed to gain greater control over their lives, thus pursuing a wider variety of life designs and life trajectories. Many of the processes referred to above are then assumed to be the result of increasing individualization.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 33)

“Finally, the term individualization (Beck, 1986; Junge, 2002; Schimank, 2002; Wohlrab-Sahr, 1992) is frequently invoked to refer to many of the changes mentioned above.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 33)

“Ideally, one would like to be able to map all the transitions of a given birth cohort through a changing HANNAH BRU ̈ CKNER AND KARL ULRICH MAYER 3” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 34) Basically the intent of my PhD

“institutional structure of life states” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 35)

“Of particular interest are the following aspects of these transition processes: (a) prevalence, the extent to which a given transition or state occurs; (b) age variance, the degree to which transitions occur at specific ages; (c) duration variance, the extent to which people stay in a given state or stage; (d) inter-event dependency, the extent to which the occurrence of one event or state is associated with the occurrence of another event or state, and (e) sequence uniformity, the extent to which the temporal sequence and ordering of events and states are uniformly distributed” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 35)

“particular interest are the following aspects of these transition processes: (a) prevalence, the extent to which a given transition or state occurs; (b) age variance, the degree to which transitions occur at specific ages; (c) duration variance, the extent to which people stay in a given state or stage; (d) inter-event dependency, the extent to which the occurrence of one event or state is associated with the occurrence of another event or state, and (e) sequence uniformity, the extent to which the temporal sequence and ordering of events and states are uniformly distributed.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 35) This is basically the fundamental point of my PhD

“First, if de-standardization is such a pervasive process, we should expect: (a) that prevalence of certain events or life stages has decreased over time; (b) that variances of ages at given transitions have increased; (c) that the variances of given durations have increased; (d) that the inter-event and inter-state dependencies have decreased; and (e) that the sequences of events or states have decreased in their predictability.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 35)

“Table 1. Median Age at Selected Life Course Transitions, by Cohort and Gender” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 37)

“First, transitions occur later and later. Second, the life courses of men and women become more similar in the school–training–work nexus. With respect to the issue of de-standardization, we note that the sequencing of training and work becomes fuzzier as participation in the educational system increases.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 47)

“In sum, our observations from West Germany across half a century show considerable evidence supporting the de-standardization thesis in the area of private lives.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 48)

“This development seems to have been triggered by three long-term developments: educational expansion with its delaying effects on family formation, the pronounced value HANNAH BRU ̈ CKNER AND KARL ULRICH MAYER 4” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 48)

“changes starting in the early 1970s and – related to both of these processes the women’s movement.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 49)

“contrast, we find little support for the de-standardization thesis in the spheres of education, training and work. These transitions have been prolonged, have become more differentiated in regard to multiple training spells and as a result have become less standardized in the degree of orderliness of the sequences of leaving school, training and employment.” (Brückner and Mayer, 2005, p. 49)