Biography and Turning Points in Europe and America
Distributed for Policy Press at the University of Bristol
The contributors to this thoughtprovoking collection argue that the biographical concept of the “turning point” requires a deeper analysis of what distinguishes turning points from life transitions. This book, in turn, raises crucial questions about the application of turning points as a biographical research method. Utilizing broad empirical research by scholars from ten different countries, the collection provides a number of contexts for thinking about turning points under both global and local forces. Focusing on how biographical meaning is made, it offers a strong theoretical base for social scientists in a variety of fields.
Introduction: Advancing the dialogue on turning points
Karla B. Hackstaff
1. Unpacking biographical narratives: investigating stories of artistic careers in Northern Jutland, Denmark
Feiwel Kupferberg
2. Turning points in the life course: a narrative concept in professional bifurcations
Catherine Négroni
3. Conjugal separation and immigration in the life course of immigrant single mothers in Québec
Ana Gherghel and Marie-Chrisitne Saint-Jacques
4. Migration biography and ethnic identity: on the discontinuity of biographical experience and how turning points affect the ethnicisation of biography
Thea D. Boldt
5. Biographical structuring through a critical life event: parental loss during childhood
Gerhard Jost
6. Decisive turning points in life trajectories of violence among young men in the barrios of Caracas: the initiation and biographical reconversion to non-violent lifestyles
Verónica Zubillaga
7. The turning points of the single life course in Budapest, Hungary
Ágnes Sántha
8. Complicating actions and complicated lives: raising questions about narrative theory through an exploration of lesbian lives
Nicki Ward
9. Religious conversion as a biographical turn/ing: the case of Orthodox believers in contemporary Russia
Liana Ipatova
10. Conclusion: theorising turning points and decoding narratives
Feiwel Kupferberg
Index
Sociology: General Sociology
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