55had transforming effects on these societies, and over the following
decades had an impact on the collective destiny of millions of people. In
a sense, these countries followed somewhat similar paths, since both
adopted liberal democracy and joined the European Union within a
period of a few years. However, while expectations for change and mod-
ernisation were high in both countries, they were also rooted in distinct
political projects which have been driving these societies in different
directions: more conservative in Lithuania, more pluralistic in Portugal.
In contrast, the Swiss context is characterised by social and institutional
stability. In any case, all these countries experienced some similar changes,
such as the rapid change in family life and demography: declining birth
rates leading, for instance, to very low fertility and delayed transition
into parenthood.
Owing to these countries’ different levels of social development and
their specific paths to modernity, social structures also differ widely
between them in terms of educational and vocational training of the
working population, productive and occupational structures, as well as
gender disparities relating to participation in paid (and unpaid) work. As
expected, differences between socio-historical contexts, along with cohort
and gender, have an impact on occupational trajectories. The fact that
these countries, despite being located within the same continent and hav-
ing close connections with the EU, can differ so widely in terms of social
development makes it interesting to assess how their inhabitants build
their familial and personal relationships.
Acknowledgement The authors of the chapter wish to acknowledge sponsors
that made it possible to carry out this investigation, the results of which are
presented in the chapter. In Switzerland, the research was supported by the Swiss
National Science Foundation and the Swiss National Centre of Competence in
Research LIVES Overcoming Vulnerability: Life-Course Perspectives. In
Portugal, the research was carried out within the national survey, “Family
Trajectories and Social Networks”, coordinated by Professor K. Wall from the
Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) from the University of Lisbon. In Lithuania,
the research was carried out based on data collected within the research project,
“Trajectories of Family Models and Personal Networks: Intergenerational
Perspective”, coordinated by V. Kanopiené from Mykolas Romeris University
(Lithuania) and funded by Research Council of Lithuania.
Contextualising Personal Networks Across Birth Cohorts...