Transitions and Transformations: Cultural Perspectives on Aging and the Life Course

Published by Berghahn Books 2013

Transitions and Transformations

Cultural Perspectives on Aging and the Life Course

Edited by: Caitrin Lynch and Jason Danely

Volume 1 in the series Life Course, Culture and Aging: Global Transformations

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780857457790

Overview
Contents

About this book

Rapid population aging, once associated with only a select group of modern industrialized nations, has now become a topic of increasing global concern. This volume reframes aging on a global scale by illustrating the multiple ways it is embedded within individual, social, and cultural life courses. It presents a broad range of ethnographic work, introducing a variety of conceptual and methodological approaches to studying life-course transitions in conjunction with broader sociocultural transformations. Through detailed accounts, in such diverse settings as nursing homes in Sri Lanka, a factory in Massachusetts, cemeteries in Japan and clinics in Mexico, the authors explore not simply our understandings of growing older, but the interweaving of individual maturity and intergenerational relationships, social and economic institutions, and intimate experiences of gender, identity, and the body.

Author / Editor information

Caitrin Lynch is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and Visiting Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at Brandeis University.

Jason Danely is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Rhode Island College and editor of the journal Anthropology and Aging Quarterly.

Caitrin Lynch is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and Visiting Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at Brandeis University.

Reviews

“This volume is full of good writing, lively situations, some wonderful photos, revealing quotes and simulating ideas. Its readability makes it appealing as a text to be used widely in the undergraduate/graduate classroom… the current volume makes for excellent reading and launches the new Berghahn book series admirably.” · Anthropology of Aging Quarterly Review

“…an important contribution to the field...excellent chapters within a comprehensive anthropological framework that touches on an increasingly important global demographic trend. The book counters the universalizing tendency of some disciplines to model aging after Western lifestyles.” · Philip B. Stafford, University of Indiana

“This is a well-crafted volume and an important addition to the literature on aging and the life course. It provides an invaluable cross-cultural perspective that emphasizes how the life course is framed within a cultural context and how cultures change over time. The chapters focus on a large number of ethnographic cases and are organized well for use by students or professionals wanting an updated overview.” · Dena Shenk, University of North Carolina Charlotte

“This volume is a welcome addition to [the literature], particularly because it speaks to concerns in the cross-cultural study of aging and in anthropology. It was a pleasure to read.” · Peter Collings, University of Florida

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
ILLUSTRATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	x
SECTION I FRAMEWORKS
Introduction TRANSITIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS Paradigms, Perspectives, and Possibilities Jason Danely and Caitrin Lynch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
1. CHANGES IN THE LIFE COURSE Strengths and Stages Mary Catherine Bateson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
SECTION II BODIES
2. NARRATING PAIN AND SEEKING CONTINUITY A Life-Course Approach to Chronic Pain Management Lindsey Martin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
3. VENTING ANGER FROM THE BODY DURING GENGNIANQI Meanings of Midlife Transition among Chinese Women in Reform-Era Beijing Jeanne L. Shea Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
4. “I DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE MY FATHER” Masculinity, Modernity, and Intergenerational Relationships in Mexico Emily Wentzell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	64
SECTION III SPATIALITY AND TEMPORALITY
5. SHIFTING MORAL IDEALS OF AGING IN POLAND Suffering, Self-Actualization, and the Nation Jessica C. Robbins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
6. A WINDOW INTO DUTCH LIFE AND DEATH Euthanasia and End-of-Life in the Public-Private Space of Home Frances Norwood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	92
7. TEMPORALITY, SPIRITUALITY, AND THE LIFE COURSE IN AN AGING JAPAN Jason Danely Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
SECTION IV FAMILIES
8. “I HAVE TO STAY HEALTHY” Elder Caregiving and the Third Age in a Brazilian Community Diana De G. Brown Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
9. GRANDMOTHERING IN LIFE-COURSE PERSPECTIVE A Study of Puerto Rican Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren in the United States Marta B. Rodríguez-Galán Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
10. CARE WORK AND PROPERTY TRANSFERS Intergenerational Family Obligations in Sri Lanka Michele Ruth Gamburd Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
SECTION V ECONOMIES
11. PERSONHOOD, APPROPRIATE DEPENDENCE, AND THE RISE OF ELDERCARE INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA Sarah Lamb Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
12. MEMBERSHIP AND MATTERING Agency and Work in a New England Factory Caitrin Lynch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
13. LIFE COURSES OF INDEBTEDNESS IN RURAL NIGERIA Jane I. Guyer and Kabiru K. Salami Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
Afterword ON GENERATIONS AND AGING “Fresh Contact” of a Different Sort Jennifer Cole Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	218
CONTRIBUTORS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 280
Keywords: Medical Anthropology

eBook

Published: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780857457790