Contexts of Ageing Class, Cohort and Community

by Gilleard, Chris; Higgs, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780745629490
• ISBN10: 0745629490
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-02
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

We live in ageing societies. Age preoccupies governments as much as individuals. A new affluence has spread across society and across the lifecourse. For many people looking forward to retirement, later life has changed for the better. But with this positive outcome for older people have come policy and social dilemmas for governments and individuals alike. Drawing on a wide range of sources, this book analyses the social nature of later life in the context of the history of welfare states, the emergence of consumer society and the growth of individualism. The book argues that the third age, its origins, identity and contradictions are central to understanding the future of our society. "Contexts of Ageing" is certain to stimulate academic debate. It is also appropriate for adoption on a range of courses. The book is written in a lively and accessible way, giving it appeal to upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates taking courses in sociology, social policy and health studies. Students and professionals working in the areas of nursing, health care and social gerontology will also find this book of interest.

Author Biography

Chris Gilleard, Director of Psychology at South West London and St. George's Mental Health Trust





Paul Higgs Senior, Lecturer in Sociology at University College, London

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Class, Modernity and the Lifecourse

The Nature of Class in Later Life

Cohort and Generation and the Study of Social Change

Later life and the two generational fields of modernity

Community and the nature of belonging

Community in Later Life

Fog-lamps and Leitmotifs

Notes

References

Index

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