Aging Culture And Society

Describes the life and accomplishments of the former slave who became a scientist and devoted his career to helping the South improve its agriculture.

This book examines aging and old age from a range of social and cultural approaches. The book begins by examining the emergence of mainstream sociological theories of aging that attempt to go beyond the tradition of bio-medical fatalism. It moves its attention to a cultural analysis of aging through an examination of embodiment. It concludes by arguing for a narrative gerontology that incorporates some of the methodological considerations required to understand and investigate an aging identity in contemporary culture.

This book examines aging and old age from a range of social and cultural approaches. The book begins by examining the emergence of mainstream sociological theories of aging that attempt to go beyond the tradition of bio-medical fatalism. It moves its attention to a cultural analysis of aging through an examination of embodiment. It concludes by arguing for a narrative gerontology that incorporates some of the methodological considerations required to understand and investigate an aging identity in contemporary culture.

The intersections of aging, media, and culture are under-explored given trends in population aging, rapid increases in the mediation of everyday life, and the growing cultural significance of media consumption at the global level. This book brings together an international collection of critical scholars, both well-established and up-and-coming, from the various academic disciplines that share a common interest in the future study of aging and media. This anthology of original articles integrates aging theory and media studies through a study of core issues including the media’s influence on the construction of “old age,” the reciprocal influence of aging on media industries, age-based identities in a mediated world, issues of gender and sexuality in an aging society, and the practical implications of a more integrated approach between the two fields. The chapters explore the intersections between aging and media in the realms of advertising/marketing, television, film, music, celebrity and social media, among others.

For undergraduate courses in sociology and psychology which examine ageing adulthood. This book focuses on the dramatic changes to the nature of post-retirement life experienced by people at the end of the twentieth century. It examines age and ageing in terms of the key preoccupations of contemporary sociology - citizenship, the body and the self. The book provides a platform for a new social gerontology that sees ageing as central to our understanding of social change. It examines social, cultural and political changes in Europe and North America to address the need for a text that moves the study of ageing from social policy towards the mainstream of social science.

This is the first of three volumes on Aging conceived for the International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine. Leading scholars from a range of disciplines contest some of the predominant paradigms on aging, and critically assess modern trends in social health policy.

The contributors in this book discuss images of aging which have come to circulate in the advanced industrial societies today. They address such themes as gender images of aging, images of health, illness and death.

This volume uses the concept of culture to explore the parameters of aging and being old in a worldwide context, thus providing a true cross-cultural and qualitative approach to social gerontology. Containing both specific case studies and broader analytical articles, this revised and expanded second edition focuses on the multitude of cultural solutions societies have available for dealing with the challenges, problems, and opportunities of growing old. Composed almost exclusively of specially commissioned articles, the text is organized around six topical areas which cover the major concerns of cross-cultural social gerontology. Each section is preceded by an introduction providing a framework for the chapters and highlighting key related issues. Also included are state-of-the-art resource guides including Internet sites, special student resources, data sets, and annotated bibliographies of related readings. The authors come from the fields of anthropology, sociology, gerontology, social work, psychology, psychiatry, and nursing. Through explorations of the experiences of real people, the contributors illuminate how elders actually live in such places as U.S. urban ethnic enclaves, rural Kenya, a South Seas island, urban China, or a New York City women's shelter. Dealing directly with key practical issues relevant to those seeking to pursue a career in the aging field, this volume covers: policy implications of demographic aging; culture and successful aging; culture and caregiving; gender and aging; grandparenthood and the crisis in urban families; informal social support; homelessness and aging; nursing homes and pet therapy; assisted suicide and death hastening behavior; the aging woman and widowhood; rural aging; self-help groups; and the cultural response to Alzheimer's disease. This essential text allows students to understand fully how culture can dictate what may appear to be natural responses to elders and aging.