ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book introduces life-course concepts, principles, and methods emerging across academic disciplines. It considers the implications of life-course concepts, principles, and methods for the general study of later life. The book examines the implications of life-course concepts, principles, and methods for studying aging and later life in specific spheres: work and retirement, leisure and social participation, family, and health and illness. It explores how life-course concepts, principles, and methods advance our understandings of aging and the family. The book emphasizes the fact that while health and illness are states, and are most often studied as such, they also are processes that develop and have consequences over time. It explores the "deep structure" cultural assumptions upon which the life course is based, and the assumptions about culture that underlie behavioral and social scientific research.
