Critical Dementia Studies: An Introduction

This book puts the critical into dementia studies. It makes a timely and novel contribution to the field, offering a thought-provoking critique of current thinking and debate on dementia. Collectively the contributions gathered together in this text make a powerful case for a more politically engaged and critical treatment of dementia and the systems and structures that currently govern and frame it.

The book is inter-disciplinary and draws together leading dementia scholars alongside dementia activists from around the world. It frames dementia as first and foremost a political category. The book advances both theoretical and methodological thinking in the field as well as sharing learning from empirical research. Outlining the limits to existing efforts to frame and theorise the condition, it proposes a new critical movement for the field of dementia studies and practice.

The book will be of direct interest to researchers and scholars in the field of dementia studies and wider fields of health, disability and care. It will provide a novel resource for students and practitioners in the fields of dementia, health care and social care. The book also has implications for dementia policymaking, commissioning and community development.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Richard Ward is Senior Lecturer in Dementia Studies at the University of Stirling and Head of Division for Ageing and Dementia. He is a registered social worker who specialised in working with older people living with dementia. Richard’s research interests include social care practice, the experience of living with dementia and how place-based experience can influence the lives of people with chronic and progressive conditions. Richard is part of a network of academics with a shared interest in studying the international development of dementia friendly communities. He is also the co-founder of the Critical Dementia Studies Network. His recently published book is Ward R, Clark A & Phillipson L (eds.) (2021) Dementia and Place: Practices, Experiences and Connections.

Linn J. Sandberg is Associate Professor in Gender Studies and Senior Lecturer in the School of Culture and Education, Södertörn University, Sweden. Sandberg’s research interests are in the field of ageing, gender, sexuality, embodiment and dementia. Some of her most recent research interests include a qualitative interview study on sexual and intimate couple relationship after the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Currently she is the Principal Investigator of a project on LGBTQ people with dementia and Swedish dementia care, funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working life and Welfare (FORTE). Sandberg is the co-founder of the Critical Dementia Studies Network, (https://memoryfriendly.org.uk/programmes/critical-dementia-network/) together with Richard Ward, and a co-managing editor of the book series Dementia in Critical Dialogue.