Not (just) 'old' : Identity, migranthip, old age and the gerontological imagination

• 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.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

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