Valuing older people

Ricca Edmondson

ISBN 10: 1847422926 / ISBN 13: 9781847422927

Published by Bristol University Press, GB, 2009

About this Item

How can we understand older people as real human beings, value their wisdom, and appreciate that their norms and purposes both matter in themselves and are affected by those of others? Using a life-course approach, "Valuing older people" argues that the complexity and potential creativity of later life demand a humanistic vision of older people and ageing. It acknowledges the diversity of experiences of older age and presents a range of contexts and methodologies through which they can be understood. Ageing is a process of creating meaning carried out by older people, and is significant for those around them. This book, therefore, considers the impact of social norms and political and economic structures on older people's capacities to age in creative ways. What real obstacles are there to older people's construction of meaningful lives? What is being achieved when they feel they are ageing well? This collection, aimed at students, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers, offers a lively and constructive response to contemporary challenges involving ageing and how to understand it.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781847422927

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Valuing older people
• Publisher: Bristol University Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1847422926
• ISBN 13: 9781847422927
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

How can we understand older people as real human beings, value their wisdom, and appreciate that their norms and purposes both matter in themselves and are affected by those of others?

Using a life-course approach, "Valuing older people" argues that the complexity and potential creativity of later life demand a humanistic vision of older people and ageing. It acknowledges the diversity of experiences of older age and presents a range of contexts and methodologies through which they can be understood. Ageing is a process of creating meaning carried out by older people, and is significant for those around them. This book, therefore, considers the impact of social norms and political and economic structures on older people's capacities to age in creative ways. What real obstacles are there to older people's construction of meaningful lives? What is being achieved when they feel they are ageing well?

This collection, aimed at students, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers, offers a lively and constructive response to contemporary challenges involving ageing and how to understand it.

About the Authors

Dr Ricca Edmondson is Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She carried out research at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin before joining the School of Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway, specialising in interdisciplinary and intercultural approaches to life-course meaning, wisdom and their history.

Hans-Joachim von Kondratowitz is senior advisor/researcher at the German Centre of Gerontology (DZA) in Berlin, and affiliated lecturer at FU Berlin in the department of social and political sciences. He has wide international research experiences in social gerontology and life course research.