The life course: a sociological introduction

Cover -- Brief Contents -- Contents -- Introduction -- Further reading -- 1 From life cycle to the life course: theoretical accounts -- The sociological enterprise and the life course -- Biological and psychological approaches -- Sociology and the life-cycle approach -- The life course: fresh approaches -- Methodology -- Summary -- Further reading -- 2 The life course in late/postmodernity -- The eclipse of modernity? -- Postmodernity -- Late industrial society -- Globalisation and its consequences -- The contemporary life course -- Summary -- Further reading -- 3 Social differentiation and determinants of the life course -- Life chances, lifestyles and the consumer society -- Social stratification and the life course -- The perseverance of social categories and inequalities: age -- The significance of social class -- Gender inequalities -- 'Race' and ethnicity -- Summary -- Further reading -- 4 Reproduction, pregnancy and childbirth -- Reproduction: the female body -- Pregnancy and childbirth -- Age of conception, birth rates and mortality and childlessness -- Ethical issues and new reproductive technology -- Summary -- Further reading -- 5 Infancy and parenting -- Infancy -- Parenting: anthropological and historical approaches -- Parenting in contemporary settings -- Motherhood -- Fatherhood -- Gay and lesbian parenting -- Summary -- Further reading -- 6 Childhood: issues and perspectives -- Childhood: from modernity to postmodernity -- Discontinuities in childhood: the consequences of divorce -- Children of ethnic minorities -- Childhood and formal education -- The persistence of educational inequalities -- Summary -- Further reading -- 7 Youth and emerging adulthood -- 'Youth' as a modern invention -- Youth subcultures -- Youth cultures as 'protest' -- Youth in postmodernity -- Youth cultures - variations on a theme -- Youth and deviance.