Consumption and Identity in Later Life: Toward a Cultural Gerontology

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Gilleard
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Gerontology ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Age Class ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Modern Mass

AbstractThis paper considers the role of contemporary consumer culture in helping older people re-fashion their own identity in later life. As a result of the expanding role played by consumption in modern mass societies, adult identities now are being denned as much by how people spend their time and money as by the goods and services they can produce. An increasing number of retired people are able to participate in this consumer culture, and in doing so are creating new possibilities of being ‘old’. The contemporary period, whether deemed ‘late’ or ‘post’ modernity, seems to present a growing challenge to the dominance of structures of age, class and gender in defining the nature of our personal identity. There is more emphasis upon the exercise of choice and agency across all periods of the lifespan. The means by which this process is enacted in the lives of pre- and post-retired people should become central to a new, culturally focused social gerontology.

scholarly journals Social Exclusion in Older-Age and the European Pillar of Social Rights

2021 ◽  
pp. 421-431
Author(s):  
Maciej Kucharczyk
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Goods And Services

AbstractThe European Pillar of Social Rights is about delivering new and more effective rights for Europeans. It builds upon 20 key principles, structured around three categories: equal opportunities and access to the labour market; fair working conditions; and social protection and inclusion. Directly relevant to older people, the Pillar has the potential to address the multidimensionality of exclusion in later life from a rights-based perspective – for example, by enhancing the rights to quality and affordable health and long-term care, to adequate pensions to live in dignity, to age-friendly working conditions and an inclusive labour market, or to access goods and services. Despite these valuable elements, there remains significant uncertainly around how the Pillar will achieve this and what kind of implemental actions might emerge across member states. This chapter analyses the potential of the European Pillar to address social exclusion of older people in Europe, the challenges that might impede its efforts, and the measures necessary to overcome such challenges.

Ageing and gender

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
Chris Gilleard ◽  
Paul Higgs
Keyword(s):  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Bonding Capital

This chapter begins by considering the distinction between sex and gender. The latter constitutes the source of the social division between men and women considered as social beings. It serves as both a reflection of division and inequality and a source of difference and identity. The chapter then explores the framing of this division in terms of patriarchy and the inequalities that are organised by and structured within the relations of work and of social reproduction. It focuses next upon the consequences of such a division, first in terms of both financial assets and resources and then in terms of social relational capital, drawing upon Putnam’s distinction between bridging and bonding capital. It then considers other sources of difference that become more salient in later life, in terms of health illness and longevity. The chapter ends with the role of gender in representing later life, and the role of later life in representing gender. It concludes by distinguishing between gender as a structure shaping third age culture, and gender as a constituent in the social imaginary of the fourth age.

The role of dissociation and abuse among adolescents who self-harm

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 989-999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Hoyos ◽  
Vincent Mancini ◽  
Yulia Furlong ◽  
Nick Medford ◽  
Hugo Critchley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Abuse ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Emergency Presentation ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Matched Comparison

Objectives: Retrospective recall of dissociative symptoms has been found to mediate the association between childhood abuse and deliberate self-harm (DSH) in later life. To disentangle the effect of recall bias, we tested whether dissociation symptoms ascertained during an acute DSH presentation mediates this link. Method: All participants with DSH were recruited during emergency presentation. Seventy-one individuals aged 11–17 years with overdose (OD) and/or self-injury (SI) participated in semi-structured interviews and psychiatric assessment to measure abuse and dissociation. An age- and gender-matched comparison group of 42 non-psychiatric patients admitted to the same service were also assessed. Results: The DSH groups reported significantly higher levels of abuse and dissociation compared to comparison group. Dissociation significantly mediated the association between abuse and DSH. Of the four dissociation subtypes, ‘depersonalisation’ was the primary mediator. Adolescents with chronic patterns of DSH and the ‘OD + SI’ self-harm type reported more severe dissociation. Conclusion: Exposure to abuse significantly increased the risk of DSH in adolescence. This association was mediated by dissociation. Our findings suggest a possible dose–response relationship between dissociation with DSH chronicity and the ‘OD + SI’ self-harm type, implicating the importance of evaluating dissociation and depersonalisation symptoms as well as abuse exposure in DSH management.

scholarly journals Retirement Migration and Precarity: Material and Social Aspects

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 443-444
Author(s):  
Marion Repetti ◽  
Toni Calasanti
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Active Lifestyle ◽  
Retirement Migration ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Discussions of precarity in later life have tended to focus on the uncertainties of material resources, and the feelings of anxiety that this evokes (e.g., Lain et al. 2019) as some older people thus face the risk of being excluded from the broader society. Although scholars often point to inequalities, such as those based on class and gender, as having an influence on the likelihood of older people experiencing such precarity, ageism is considered only to the extent that it can exacerbate the impact of these statuses through, for instance, labor market experiences. Here, we expand upon the impact of ageism on the social aspects of precarity: the loss of recognition and respect as a person that is at the core of social bonds. Drawing on qualitative interviews we have conducted among Swiss, British, and U.S. older people who migrated to cheaper countries in retirement, we demonstrate that ageism can influence precarity regardless of classes. We find that even among wealthier older migrants, who otherwise might fit the image of the retiree seeking an active lifestyle in a sunny location, the attempt to escape the devaluation heaped upon older people in their original country plays an important role. In their new countries, retired migrants of all classes felt that they were valued and part of a community, and this differed from the ageism in their home countries. We thus argue that ageism be considered in future analyses of precarity in later life.

scholarly journals Subjective mental health, incidence of depressive symptoms in later life, and the role of epigenetics: results from two longitudinal cohort studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Perna ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Pamela R. Matias-Garcia ◽  
Karl-Heinz Ladwig ◽  
Tobias Wiechmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Older People ◽  
Predictive Value ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Mental Hrqol ◽  
Subjective Mental Health

Abstract The role of self-perceived general health in predicting morbidity and mortality among older people is established. The predictive value of self-perceived mental health and of its possible biological underpinnings for future depressive symptoms is unexplored. This study aimed to assess the role of mental health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and of its epigenetic markers in predicting depressive symptoms among older people without lifetime history of depression. Data were based on a subgroup (n = 1 492) of participants of the longitudinal ESTHER study. An epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) of mental HRQOL was conducted using DNA from baseline whole blood samples and logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the predictive value of methylation beta values of EWAS identified CpGs for incidence of depressive symptoms in later life. The methylation analyses were replicated in the independent KORA cohort (n = 890) and a meta-analysis of the two studies was conducted. Results of the meta-analysis showed that participants with beta values of cg27115863 within quartile 1 (Q1) had nearly a two-fold increased risk of developing depressive symptoms compared to participants with beta values within Q4 (ORQ1vsQ4 = 1.80; CI 1.25–2.61). In the ESTHER study the predictive value of subjective mental health for future depressive symptoms was also assessed and for 10-unit increase in mental HRQOL scores the odds for incident depressive symptoms were reduced by 54% (OR 0.46; CI 0.40–0.54). These findings suggest that subjective mental health and hypomethylation at cg27115863 are predictive of depressive symptoms, possibly through the activation of inflammatory signaling pathway.

scholarly journals The ideology of ageism versus the social imaginary of the fourth age: two differing approaches to the negative contexts of old age

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 1617-1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Higgs ◽  
Chris Gilleard
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Social Gerontology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Aspects

AbstractThe development of social gerontology has led to the emergence of its own terminology and conceptual armoury. ‘Ageism’ has been a key concept in articulating the mission of gerontology and was deliberately intended to act as an equivalent to the concepts of racism and sexism. As a term, it has established itself as a lodestone for thinking about the de-valued and residualised social status of older people in contemporary society. Given this background, ageism has often been used to describe an overarching ideology that operates in society to the detriment of older people and which in large part explains their economic, social and cultural marginality. This paper critiques this approach and suggests an alternative based upon the idea of the social imaginary of the fourth age. It argues that not only is the idea of ageism too totalising and contradictory but that it fails to address key aspects of the corporeality of old age. Adopting the idea of a social imaginary offers a more nuanced theoretical approach to the tensions that are present in later life without reducing them to a single external cause or explanation. In so doing, this leaves the term free to serve, in a purely descriptive manner, as a marker of prejudice.

scholarly journals ‘I'm going to live my life for me’: trans ageing, care, and older trans and gender non-conforming adults’ expectations of and concerns for later life

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Paul Willis ◽  
Michele Raithby ◽  
Christine Dobbs ◽  
Elizabeth Evans ◽  
Jenny-Anne Bishop
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Gerontology ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Care And Support ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
And Gender

Abstract While research on the health and wellbeing of older lesbian, gay and bisexual adults is gradually expanding, research on older trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) adults lags behind. Current scholarship about this group raises important questions about the intersection of ageing and gender identity for enhancing care and support for older TGNC adults and the lack of preparedness of health and social professionals for meeting these needs. In this paper, we examine the accounts of 22 TGNC individuals (50–74 years) on the topic of ageing and unpack their concerns for and expectations of later life. We present qualitative findings from a study of gender identity, ageing and care, based in Wales, United Kingdom. Data were generated from two-part interviews with each participant. Four key themes are identified: (a) facilitative factors for transitioning in mid- to later life; (b) growing older as a new lease of life; (c) growing older: regrets, delays and uncertainties; and (d) ambivalent expectations of social care services. We argue that growing older as TGNC can be experienced across a multitude of standpoints, ranging from a new lease of life to a time of regret and uncertainty. We critically discuss emergent notions of trans time, precarity and uncertainty running across participants’ accounts, and the implications for enhancing recognition of gender non-conformity and gender identity in social gerontology.

‘Just normal and homely’: The presence, absence and othering of consumer culture in everyday imagining

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Jenkins ◽  
Elizabeth Nixon ◽  
Mike Molesworth
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Consumer Research ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Emotional Experiences ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Key Resources

The imaginative aspects of consumption have been recognized as playing a key role in accounting for Western consumerism, yet there has been surprisingly little attention paid to the role of imagining in everyday life. Previous consumer research has tended to focus on goods and services within daydreams and fantasies so that goods seem to be central to, and key resources in, the construction of imagined scenarios. Here we argue that this methodological framing has restricted a broader understanding of the imagination and the contextualization of consumption within it. By analysing phenomenological accounts that placed imagining ahead of consumption as the focus of the study, we found that individuals readily envisioned common cultural desires for successful relationships, happiness and love in positive imagined futures, where goods may be merely assumed as part of the background, or dismissed in favour of preferred emotional experiences. As such this article uses Law’s (2004) conceptions of presence, manifest absence and othering to provide a more nuanced analysis of how and where consumption may be seen in the imagination. In this way we suggest that previous narratives of the consumer imagination have neglected individuals’ autonomy in both removing consumer practices and positioning social relationships as more prominent.

scholarly journals The evolving role of business in contributing to social justice in South Africa in terms of legislative measures

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 465-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karunanidhi Reddy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Black People ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Disadvantaged Communities ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Social ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Legislative Measures

Apartheid in South Africa has burdened the nation with high levels of poverty, illiteracy and other forms of social and economic inequality. The resultant challenges included discrimination on grounds of race and gender, which prevented much of the population from fair opportunities for business ownership and management, and securing senior jobs, as well as obtaining access to goods and services. Many businesses were closed to Black people and separate and inferior facilities were provided for them. Further, workplace discrimination was supported by the law. This article uses a descriptive approach to reveal, particularly in terms of the legislative measures introduced, the social responsibility of business in a transforming society, more especially the transformation of the historically disadvantaged communities.

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