Rethinking agency in late life: structural and interpretive approaches1
Rethinking agency in late life: structural and interpretive approaches1
Over the course of the 1990s and 2000s, debates focused around the period of the 'fourth age' as a complex socio-cultural construct. These contributions have moved beyond the use of the 'fourth age' as an uncritical age-based criterion in research samples (e.g., 80+) or simply a marker of eligibility for services. At the same time, they have produced a new set of challenges for interpretations of the 'fourth age'. This chapter uses a framework derived from critical gerontology in order to articulate the tensions and contradictions inherent in the concept of agency with regards to the 'fourth age'. The chapter is divided into the following sections: first, the construct of the 'fourth age' is clarified; second, themes in the literature on agency are reviewed; third, the challenges and contradictions presented by agency and the 'fourth age' are outlined together; finally, the chapter concludes with a review of issues for further research and development.
Keywords: Agency, Social Structure, Third Age, Fourth Age, Healthy ageing, Impairment, The body
Policy Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
