'Constructing Adulthood': Agency and Subjectivity in the Transition to Adulthood

Agency and subjectivity are key factors that shape the life course. Agency is widely regarded as a central concept in life course study and has been the object of considerable research. Still, the meaning of agency, its specific expression in the life course, its relationship to social structure, and the role of chance and contingency remain problematic issues. In contrast, subjective perceptions of life stage, specifically age-graded self-identity, have received comparatively little attention. It is only recently that the idea of studying the nature of such perceptions and factors that produce them has emerged as a coherent field of study. This introductory chapter seeks to map out the key issues confronting life course social sciences with a specific focus on the transition to adulthood and outline the theoretical and empirical contributions of the various chapters. It begins with an overview of issues of agency in the social sciences, its role in life course social theory, and a discussion of the ways in which the chapters in this volume advance our thinking about agency in the life course. This is followed by an overview of the treatment of subjectivity and self-identity in the life course, an outlining of the key debates over "emerging adulthood," and a discussion of the contributions of the various chapters. A short conclusion outlines the broader implications of the various works and how they may further theoretical and empirical work on the life course.