Ageing, Meaning and Social Structure : : Connecting Critical and Humanistic Gerontology / / ed. by Jan Baars, Joseph Dohmen, Amanda Grenier, Chris Phillipson.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Bristol University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2013-1995
• MitwirkendeR: Baars, Jan,; Bruens, Margreet Th.,; Dannefer, Dale,; Dohmen, Joseph,; Grenier, Amanda,; Hortulanus, Roelof,; Laceulle, Hanne,; Lin, Jielu,; Machielse, Anja,; Phillipson, Chris,; Ray, Mo,; Scharf, Thomas,; Ziegler, Friederike,
• HerausgeberIn: Baars, Jan,; Dohmen, Joseph,; Grenier, Amanda,; Phillipson, Chris,
• Place / Publishing House: Bristol : : Policy Press, , [2013]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (216 p.)

Ageing, meaning and social structure is a unique book advancing critical discourse in gerontology and makes a major contribution to understanding key social and ethical dilemmas facing ageing societies. It confronts and integrates approaches that have been relatively isolated from each other, and interrelates two major streams of thought within critical gerontology: analyses of structural issues in the context of political economy and humanistic perspectives on issues of existential meaning. The chapters, from a wide range of contributors, focus on major issues in ageing such as autonomy, agency, frailty, lifestyle, social isolation, dementia and professional challenges in social work and participatory research. This volume should be valuable reading for scholars and graduate students in gerontology and humanistic studies, as well as for policy makers and practitioners working in the field of ageing.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Contents -- Notes on contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Connecting meaning with social structure: theoretical foundations -- My own life: ethics, ageing and lifestyle -- Rethinking agency in late life: structural and interpretive approaches1 -- Dementia: beyond structures of medicalisation and cultural neglect -- Self-realisation and ageing: a spiritual perspective -- Social ability or social frailty? The balance between autonomy and connectedness in the lives of older people -- Critical perspectives on social work with older people -- Community-based participatory action research: opportunities and challenges for critical gerontology -- Commentary: contingent ageing, naturalisation and some rays of intellectual hope -- Index