Synopses & Reviews
Targeted as the 'grey consumer', people retiring now participated in the creation of the post-war consumer culture. These consumers have grown older but have not stopped consuming.Based on extensive analysis over two years, this unique book examines the engagement of older people with consumer society in Britain since the 1960s. It charts the changes in the experience of later life in the UK over the last 50 years, the rise of the 'individualised consumer citizen' and what this means for health and social policies. The book will appeal to students, lecturers, researchers and policy analysts. It will provide material for teaching on undergraduate courses and postgraduate courses in sociology, social policy and social gerontology. It will also have considerable appeal to private industry engaged with older consumers as well as to voluntary and non-governmental organisations addressing ageing in Britain.
Review
“A most welcome collection that provides a much-needed and up-to-date orientation on the open frontiers of class across the life course.” Martin Kohli, European University Institute and Bremen International Graduate Sc
Review
“An exciting collection which successfully sets out to re-invigorate the consideration of class in gerontology. The editors have done a fantastic job of bringing the diverse positions adopted by the contributors into dialogue with each other.” James Nazroo, University of Manchester
Review
“This fascinating edited volume brings together top-notch scholars who each cast a unique lens on a rarely studied topic. A must-read for students of social gerontology, stratification, and inequalities.” Deborah Carr, Rutgers University
Review
“This eloquent, thought-provoking collection will be essential reading for scholars of ageing and all with an interest in policy linked to ageing.” Sara Arber, Centre for Research on Ageing and Gender, University of Surrey
Review
This book brings together research on later life and the literature on consumption in new ways. It is timely, informative, and thought-provoking. Professor Frank Trentmann, Birkbeck College, London, author of Free Trade Nation: Commerce, Consumption and Civil Society in Modern Britain
Review
Please send comp copy to Birkbeck College address
Synopsis
Social class in later life: Power, identity and lifestyle provides the most up-to-date collection of new and emerging research relevant to contemporary debates on the relationship between class, culture, and later life.
Synopsis
Social Class in Later Life collects the latest research on class, culture, and agingexploring the relationship between them and offering a critical guide to the ways in which age and class relations intersect with each other. Bringing together a range of international scholars, Marvin Formosa and Paul Higgs develop a sophisticated, analytical, and empirical understanding of late-life class dynamics. It will be of interest to students and researchers examining the implications of global aging as well as scholars concerned with the development of a more critical and engaged gerontology.
Synopsis
Attention to social class is a major issue confronting the study of ageing in the 21st century, yet it has been significantly overlooked to date. Social class in later life provides the most up-to-date collection of new and emerging research relevant to contemporary debates on the relationship between class, culture, and later life. It explores the interface between class dynamics and later life, whilst acting as a critical guide to the ways in which age and class relations 'interlock' and 'intersect' with each other, whilst examining the emergence of new forms of inequalities alongside the interrogation of more traditional divisions. Social class in later life brings together a range of international high profile scholars to develop a more sophisticated, analytical and empirical understanding of class dynamics in later life. It will be of major interest to students and researchers examining the implications of global ageing, and will appeal to scholars concerned with the development of a more critical and engaged gerontology.
Synopsis
This book provides a unique critical perspective on the changing nature of later life by examining the engagement of older people with consumer society in Britain since the 1960s.
About the Author
Ian Rees Jones, School of Social Sciences, University of Bangor., Martin Hyde, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, Christina R. Victor, School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Brunel University Uxbridge, Richard D. Wiggins, Department of Sociology, City University, London, Chris Gilleard, SW London & St George's Mental Health NHS Trust and Paul Higgs, Centre for Behavioural and Social Sciences in Medicine, University College London
Table of Contents
Introduction
~ Marvin Formosa and Paul Higgs
Social class structures and social mobility: the background context
~ Wendy Bottero
Ageing and class in a globalised world
~ Chris Phillipson
Measuring social class in later life
~ Alexandra Lopes
Social class, age and identity in later life
~ Martin Hyde and Ian Rees Jones
Class, pensions and old-age security
~ Elizangela Storelli and John Williamson
Class and health inequalities in later life
~ Ian Rees Jones and Paul Higgs
Class, care and caring
~ Christina Victor
Social work, class and later life
~ Trish Hafford-Letchfield
The changing significance of social class in later life
~ Marvin Formosa and Paul Higgs