TLU Centre of Excellence in Life Course, Wellbeing, and Open Society Studies

VLife course research in recent decades has increasingly focused on analyzing the mutual impact of social structure and individual life courses. While earlier studies treated social structure as the direct developmental environment for individuals (such as family, school, workplace), more recent research examines how the broader institutional structures of the state and economy, as well as changes in the functioning of institutions, affect people's life courses. Within this research focus, life courses are analyzed by comparing different countries and time periods, with special attention to emerging inequalities (by educational groups, occupational groups, age groups).  The concept of agency is employed in studying the interconnections between different components of the life course,  emphasizing individuals’ active role in shaping their life paths. This concept relates to the cumulative success and failure concept, where success or failure tends to accumulate throughout a person's life course. The concept of linked lives highlights the social connections among people (kinship ties, friendships, family bonds, ties between colleagues, etc.), with individuals perceiving macrostructural changes primarily through their immediate social surroundings.

Life course research primarily focuses on educational paths, participation in lifelong learning, career trajectories, and social mobility, as well as the interconnections between different life course components. Greater attention is given to how these components (educational path, career, well-being, family life, health behavior, political participation, etc.) are interrelated and how institutional changes impact these interconnections. A longitudinal study of Estonian youth is planned, which will employ a mixed-methods design and use data from various registries as data sources.

Population changes present modern societies with several serious challenges. According to classical demographic theory, the population system in developed countries should have reached a new equilibrium, but reality is far from this. Population projections indicate that the current combination of low fertility rates and increased life expectancy may not be sustainable in the long term. As new generations are a quarter, a third, or even smaller than previous ones, a chain of changes is triggered, felt by society as a deepening shortage of people in many areas of life and as increased pressure on the welfare system.

Population studies associated with the TEHA TLU Center of Excellence have two focal points. First, the emphasis is on fertility and family changes, which serve as its immediate framework. Second, issues related to population aging are addressed, particularly the health and well-being of older adults and retirement. Both areas share the understanding that these are life course processes driven by individual decisions within the economic, institutional, and cultural context of society. In both areas, individual and contextual factors are studied in connection to these processes, which have received less attention in previous studies, including those conducted at the SOGOLAS TLU Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Life Course Research. The impact of policy measures applied in both areas is also planned to be analyzed.

The theoretical basis relies on various approaches that have proven effective in explaining contemporary population changes (e.g., microeconomic theory of fertility, second demographic transition theory, gender revolution theory, health transition theory). Both Estonian-specific and comparative perspectives are applied in these studies.

Well-being studies have two levels: policy-level well-being and individual-level subjective well-being. The methodological framework combines both normative and interpretive approaches to well-being.

The well-being policy perspective encompasses the macro level, focusing on the well-being of different generations and social groups (defined by gender, nativity, ethnicity, health status, social status, education level, family status) and factors affecting well-being at various life stages. These factors include individual characteristics, family background, resources, participation, and the institutional, political, and social context, as well as governance strategies. Institutions and policies of an open society shape social and subjective well-being and associated social risks and the trust between individuals and the state. Therefore, understanding the connections between different levels (individual, community, state, global) and the mechanisms influencing them is essential.

The perspective on subjective well-being creation includes the micro and meso levels, focusing on the individual, their subjective experience of well-being (including self-care and personal responsibility), and agency (capacity for action) within well-being ecosystems (collective activities within communities and daily living environments—relational, digital, and physical). This perspective seeks to understand human reality through an interpretive approach, adding insights into well-being and influencing factors by considering active participation (agency), experiences, and values, as well as a balanced approach to independence and interdependence within the community.

At the heart of an open society are democratic policies and governance strategies, which are ways in which democratic governance and societal organization are maintained. These need continual updating, with a sustained need for knowledge to deepen the analysis of democratic governance functioning. On the one hand, this research responds to contemporary trends highlighted in literature, such as the tensions between depoliticizing and radicalizing governance, globalization, transnationalism, digitalization, securitization, societal fragmentation, inequality, and the challenges of sustainable, smart, and peaceful development. On the other hand, it considers the potential for action by various actors, including politicians, policymakers, officials at various levels, as well as citizens, organizations, communities, and other participants in governance, and the possibilities for innovating organizational solutions.

The research focus is on solutions that enhance the quality of democracy, their design, and functionality. Political, educational, and socio-economic empowerment are especially examined, considering both Estonian and international contexts. Democratic citizenship education, socio-economic empowerment of communities, citizenship, migration, integration, as well as civil society and communities, are central topics.

The human rights and security research direction examines the relationships between human rights and security from normative, rights-theoretical, legal-practice, and societal opinion perspectives. It considers whether human rights and security are positively correlated—i.e., the higher the level of human rights protection, the higher the security level in that society. Normatively, the reciprocal relationships between security and human rights regulations are analyzed. Theoretically, the overlap of fundamental norms and principles of security and human rights is considered, as well as where divergences occur at the generalization phase. From a legal-practice perspective, the interconnections between security and human rights protection mechanisms are examined, as well as whether the argument for ensuring security weakens the protection of relative and possibly also absolute human rights.

All of these issues are addressed comparatively across countries, as well as at the levels of societal groups and social networks. The influence of wealth, education, employment, and other indicators on people’s understanding of the relationship between security and human rights is also examined.