Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes

The boundaries of childhood, youth, and old age are largely established through institutional frameworks; consequently, these categories are often taken for granted, and the mechanisms behind their social production are rarely the focus of research. The blurred boundaries of middle age make these mechanisms more visible, which is why studying middle age offers a deeper understanding of the age order — a system of interconnected age-related positions, norms, perceptions, and institutional classifications that structure an individual’s life course and the distribution of social opportunities.

The objective of this Special Issue is to examine middle age as a social category, exploring its boundaries, the normative organization of biographical time, and the age-related mechanisms that generate social inequality.

Submission deadline: December 25, 2026.