Life Course & Society

To realise the ILAS mission, our work has a central focus on the life course. The life course captures our interest in how individuals and groups, from potentially marginalised sections of the population, can participate as full members of our society throughout their lives.

We adopt a broad understanding of the life course, which draws attention to how major life events and social contexts shape the life paths and available opportunities for individuals and groups.

In our work, society is integral to our understanding of the life course. This is in terms of how society, as an organised pattern of relationships, can give rise to different institutions and values that impact on how our lives develop. It is also closely intertwined with how society represents a set of multiple sets stakeholders that need to be engaged with, given their role in shaping those institutions and values.

To inform our activities across our work strands and strategic themes, ILAS embraces the following dimesnions of the life course: