The Anthropology of Retirement: Life Beyond Work (Life Course, Culture and Aging: Global Transformations, 12)

As a result of growing life expectancy, the period of retirement is likely to surpass the entire period of working life in many countries. There is little acknowledgement that retirement is not an event but an extended period of life that unfolds over several decades. Experiences vary considerably across the globe, from areas where most people cannot afford to retire to places where a multitude of new possibilities are being developed for retirees. This book is an anthropological approach to consider life beyond retirement in a wide range of contexts and consequences.

Pauline Garvey is Professor in Anthropology at Maynooth University, the National University of Ireland. Her recent book, with Daniel Miller is entitled Ageing with Smartphones in Ireland: When Life Becomes Craft (UCL Press, 2021). Other works include Unpacking IKEA: Swedish Design for the Purchasing Masses (Routledge, 2018).

Daniel Miller is Professor of Anthropology at University College London and directs the Centre for Digital Anthropology. He was the leader for two major European Research Council five-year funded projects, Why We Post on the use and consequences of social media, and ASSA the Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing. His most recent books include The Good Enough Life (Polity Books, 2023) and Ageing with Smartphones in Ireland, with Pauline Garvey (UCL Press, 2021).