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- Machat-From, Laura, 1982-
(författare)
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Identity, Old(er) Age and Migrancy : A Social Constructionist Lens
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- ldentity research in relation to ethnicity and migration has tended to focus an younger people whilst identity research in relation to ageing and old(er) age has not focused an migrants. This inadvertent mutual neglect has led to a lack of identity research that examines the identity categories of old(er) age and migrancy together, a lacuna that this dissertation aims to redress. This dissertation departs from a social constructionist understanding of identity as situationally accomplished in the interplay between how one defines oneself (internally) and how others define one (externally). The questions raised by this perspective and addressed in this dissertation are: When (in what situations) and in relation to whom do old(er) age and migrancy (respectively) seem to become meaningful for identification? How do the identity categories of old(er) age and migrancy seem to be negotiated? The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews with 24 older migrants (13 men, 11 women) aged between 55 and 79 who have been living in Sweden for 18 to 61 years. Interviewees come from 12 different countries that vary in perceived cultural distance from Sweden. The findings suggest that identifications with old(er) age and migrancy seem to be dynamic and flexible rather than necessarily permanently meaningful, thus gaining meaning in specific situations and in relation to particular Others. External definitions furthermore do not always seem to match with internal ones. Regardless of how old(er) age and migrancy are constructed, they seem to be negotiable. This dissertation thus contributes to identity research by studying old(er) age and migrancy together and furthermore sheds light onto how the social constructionist lens allows us to see variability where stability otherwise would be presumed.
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| 2. |
- Machat-From, Laura, 1982-
(författare)
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Negotiating the Identity Categories of Old(er) Age and Migrancy : A Social Constructionist Lens
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Given the concurrent trends of population ageing and the globalization of international migration, more and more people are ageing in countries other than the ones in which they were born. The resulting growing number of older migrants has led to an increased interest in this population both in social gerontology and in migration and ethnic studies. One area of research in which this has become apparent is in the small but growing literature on identity among older migrants. What this literature thus far has not yet examined together are the two identity categories of old(er) age and migrancy (i.e. perceived difference from the native population resulting from migration). The present paper departs from a social constructionist understanding of identity as accomplished in the interplay between internal (self-)definitions and external definitions (by others). When (in what situations) and in relation to whom are identities pertaining to old(er) age and migrancy asserted or ascribed? How are the identity categories of old(er) age and migrancy negotiated? The presentation is based upon empirical material in the form of 24 interviews with individuals aged between 55 and 79 who were born in 12 different countries and have lived in Sweden between 18 and 61 years. The overall aim of the presentation is to shed light onto how the identity categories of old(er) age and migrancy are negotiated.
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| 3. |
- Machat-From, Laura, 1982-
(författare)
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Not (just) 'old' : Identity, migranthip, old age and the gerontological imagination
- 2012
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This presentation focuses on identity in old age as a field which can be expanded through the use of both a social positions lens and, more specifically, an ethnicity/’race’ lens. It first discusses the results of a review of literature on identity in old age which has explored the role that social positions (i.e. gender, ethnicity/’race’, class, (dis)ability, sexual orientation) have played in this body of research. Finding that all social positions but gender in fact largely have been neglected in this field thus far, it is argued that the inclusion of social positions in future research on identity in old age is key to advancing this field. Then, the presentation proceeds to present preliminary find- ings from a study of identity in old age that has incorporated an ethnicity/’race’ perspective. The project in question focuses on identity negotiations in relation to old age and migrant- ship (i.e. ethnic otherness as the result of migration), explor- ing the intersection between the two. Empirical data consists of 24 individual interviews with 13 foreign-born men and 11 foreign-born women aged between 55 and 79 who have been living in Sweden for 18 to 61 years. With the help of both the review of previous research and the preliminary results from this study (which implements that which the review asks for), it is thus demonstrated how the gerontological imagination can be expanded by way of employing both a social positions lens and an ethnicity/’race’ aware lens.
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