Flux: Insights into the Social Aspects of Life Transitions

Abstract

Life transitions are often conceptualized and studied as individual experiences. But in reality, transitions are rarely individual: they are relational. We offer a set of insights into the social aspects of transitions. Transitions are experienced with and alongside others in states of interdependence. Family and other relationships can be key sources of support for transitions but also create risks. Changes in the transition patterns of cohorts are fertile ground for intergenerational tension in families and societies. Much of the action relevant to understanding life transitions is also found in the mind, in processes related to inequality, and in invisible forces related to history, demography, and institutions. Illustrations reinforce the principle that to understand the personal, we must look beyond the personal. Because transitions have strong social aspects, they can be strengthened through interventions, institutions, and policies.

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this article was given as keynote lectures at the international conference on “Transitions in the Life Course” at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany (April 2017) and the annual meeting of the Northwest Council on Family Relations at Portland State University (April 2017), and as part of the LINES-LIVES research colloquia series, “Life Course and Social Inequalities,” at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland (June, 2017). Special thanks are extended to Jacques-Antoine Gauthier, Jana Meinhold, and Andreas Walther for organizing those events. We are grateful to many participants for their insightful questions and helpful feedback. Ideas in the first section of the article evolved from Settersten (2015, 2018).