Life Course Studies and Biographical Research: Exploring the Individual-Society Relationship

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter the many ways in which the individual-society relationship has been approached in the history of sociology are addressed. The micro-macro distinction is discussed as an early conceptualisation of this relationship. In Thomas and Znaniecki’s pioneering work they made a distinction between ‘values’ and ‘attitudes’ that was considered an early attempt at constructing notions to discuss this issue in biographical research. The prominence of the agency-structure pair of concepts since the 1990s in the vocabulary to discuss the relationship between individuals and society is discussed in relation to the historical contexts of their origin. The section outlines arguments from some of the prominent sociologists who have written about the topic. Gendered aspects of concepts are seldom addressed in mainstream sociological theoretical discussions. A section that discusses this topic in its own right is included in this chapter. It sets notions of gendered agency within the historical contexts of debates that addressed them. Differences between the structure-agency divide on the one hand, and the history-biography dynamic on the other are discussed in the fourth section of the chapter. It also gives an overview of the diversity of approaches to the history-biography dynamic in biographical life course research.