RETHINKING TIME-GEOGRAPHY IN LONG-TERM SPACE-TIME BEHAVIOR STUDY: INTEGRATING WITH LIFE COURSE THEORY
CHAI Yan-wei1, TA Na1, ZHANG Yan2
1. Department of Urban and Economic Geography, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
2. Institute of Beijing Studies, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100101, China
Abstract：Time-geographical approach, constructed by Swedish geographer, Torsten H?gerstrand and the Lund School in 1970s, was a constraint-based approach to human activity. It provided a powerful conceptual framework to understand constraints on human activity participation in space and time. However, most empirical studies based on time-geographical perspectives were only focused on the short-term space-time behaviors of everyday life, except for H?gerstrand's early work on migration behaviors in 1940s, and several GIS-based time-geographical geovisualization of migration pattern since the late 1990s. This paper was aimed to bridge these intelligent gaps by constructing a new conceptual framework integrating time-geography with the life course theory for a better understanding of long-term space-time behaviors. Life course theory, a sociological approach established in 1960s, focused on the relationship of individual life course and social change. It provided an essential framework for understanding individual's life course as the result of social forces and social structures. In this paper, we compared these two approaches in terms of how they understand individual behavior, time and space, as well as constraints. We concluded that life course approach supplement time-geography with an in-depth understanding of the social context of individual's long-term space-time behavior and of time accumulation effect of past and future behavior. We re-conceptualize the notation of life-path by integrating individual's life events with their emotions and feelings as well as other social and psychological factors.
