Positive Aging and Precarity: Theory, Policy, and Social Reality within a Comparative German Context

Description

This book explores positive aging through the lens of precarity, aiming to ground positive aging theories in current social contexts. In recent years, research on aging has been branded by growing disagreements between supporters of the successful aging model and critical gerontologists who highlight the widening inequalities, disadvantages and precarity that characterize old age. This book comes to fill a gap in knowledge by offering an alternative view on positive aging, informed by precarity and its impact on projections concerning aging. The first part of the book places aging in broader theoretical and empirical context, exploring the complex links between views on aging, successful aging theories, policy and social reality. The second part uses results from a qualitative research conducted in Germany to illustrate the dissonance between successful aging ideals and both negative and positive views on aging as well as aging preparation strategies inspired by precarity. Findings from this section provide a solid starting point for comparisons with countries that are both similar and different from Germany in terms of welfare regimes and aging policies. The final part of the book discusses the psychological implications of these findings within and beyond the German case study and outlines potential solutions for practice. This book provides health psychologists, gerontologists, sociologists, social workers, health professionals as well as students and aging individuals themselves with better understanding of the meaning of aging in precarious times and builds confidence about aging well despite precarity. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Introduction: Issues of Aging and Precarity (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 1-13 Front Matter ....Pages 15-15 Positive Aging Theories and Views on Aging (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 17-34 The Politics of Positive Aging (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 35-52 The Social Reality of Aging (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 53-64 Front Matter ....Pages 65-65 Perceptions of the Precarious Life: The Middle-Aged Precariat in Germany (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 67-88 Views on Aging in Precarious and Financially Secure Individuals (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 89-105 Preparing for Old Age (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 107-125 Front Matter ....Pages 127-127 Precarity and Views on Aging (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 129-147 Precarity and Preparing for Old Age (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 149-165 Positive Aging in the Context of Precarity: Conclusions and Implications (Irina Catrinel Crăciun)....Pages 167-192 Back Matter ....Pages 193-194