Welfare spaces of (non)ageing: a discourse perspective

The aim of this paper is to articulate an approach for discursive research on welfare cultures of ageing that responds to the challenges facing contemporary research on old age and ageism. It is based on the assumption that to understand conditions under which people are ageing in different countries, various societal levels and actors need to be examined and their roles in setting the old age agenda need to be accounted for. Additionally, this paper reflects upon the welfare spaces of ageing in Poland, spaces where people in Poland grow old and/or are allowed to do so. As a result, this paper indicates the lack of spaces of ageing in the welfare context in Poland. People are expected not to grow old; old age remains a misunderstood phenomenon. Contrary to the excessive knowledge against old age. there is considerable lack of knowledge for old age. Therefore, spaces of non-ageing are invoked in order to elaborate on these processes. Spaces of non-ageing identify various societal domains and show what needs to be done in order not to grow old. Spaces of non-ageing repudiate the idea of old age as something terrifying and, on many occasions, immoral

Stay healthy, be active and work! - Motive analysis of policy proposals on old age

This article discusses the motives of ageing policies, based on two cases of national policy documents, from Sweden and Poland. The discourse analysis applied in this study follows the key principles of motive analysis. The main findings indicate that neither document is primarily concerned about older people and their well-being. People and their lives are secondary to the main focus of the analysed policy proposals. Ageing is feared in those documents, and imagined consequences of the population ageing are attenuated.This study offers an insight into discursive spaces of old age in Poland and Sweden. Furthermore, it presents motive analysis as a valuable method for studying ways of problematising social policy issues. The article draws attention to discourses that shape social policy and are reinforced by it. It also shows the process of enacting a precautionary principle in social policy that often leads to reductionist and simplistic perspectives that focus on only one aspect of a given phenomenon

New migrants in Scotland from the EU: Analysis of the 2011 census

This short report summarises data from the 2011 census in Scotland to provide an overview of the socio-economic situation of new migrants into Scotland. We define new migrants as those who have arrived in Scotland within the last 10 years. We examine the housing, employment, education, identity and health of new migrants and compare their situation to that of settled EEA (European Economic Area) migrants who have been living in Scotland for 10 years or more. The particular focus of this report is on the differences and similarities between migrants from recent EU member states (EU8) and established EU member states (EU15)

From a collaborative and integrated welfare policy to frontline practices

acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Jaco Hoffman and Katrien Pype (eds.) (2016). Ageing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Spaces and Practices of Care. Bristol: Policy Press, 248 pp. ISBN 978 1 4473 2525 3 (hardback)

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Introductory Remarks

In one of the most widely used definitions of qualitative research, Denzin and Lincoln (2005, p. 3) describe this practice as consisting of “a set of interpretive, material practices that make the world visible”. However, as much as qualitative research “locates the observer in the world”, it also locates the observed in research. This intrinsic complexity of qualitative research becomes even more prominent in research inquiring into such highly social and cultural phenomena as age and ageing

Spaces of (non)ageing : A discoursive study of inequalities we live by

This dissertation examines processes and practices that make certain social categories real in people’s lives. One of these categories is old age and old people. In contemporary societies that are inundated by images of youth, old age is under attack. Old age does not fit into the contemporary framework of idealised lifestyle and images of perfect people. Thus, the main question addressed in this dissertation concerns spaces of ageing, which are societal arenas in which people are expected and/or allowed to become old. This study investigates discourses of old age within the context of welfare. It describes actions, statements and attitudes related to old age within the context of the welfare state. This study is based on multiple data that include 121 opinion weekly news magazines articles, social policy observations, and two case studies of a non-governmental and a user-organisation. The method of analysis comprises two approaches to discourse: discourse analysis and analysis of discourses. The study adopts a perspective that highlights the contextual, emotional and unstable character of welfare states that undergo constant processes of change. It notes the process of people production based on instilling in them norms and principles that should govern their lives. The findings of the study illustrate the lack of spaces of ageing in the welfare state context. People are expected not to grow old, and old age remains a misunderstood phenomenon. Therefore, spaces of (non)ageing are invoked to elaborate on these processes. Spaces of (non)ageing  occur in various societal domains and show what is required to avoid becoming old. Spaces of (non)ageing frame the idea of old age as something terrifying and, in many cases, immoral. The findings of this study are discussed in relation to the processes and practices of inequality (re)production. The complexity and multiperspectivity of understanding such phenomena are taken into consideration. The study invites a perspective of ‘us’ from which to examine social inequalities, and ‘we’ who think and feel at the same time.   This dissertation is written from a perspective of knowledge, which is always plural, changing and fluid. Therefore, the results are discussed in terms of the production of some knowledges about the researched phenomenon but not as an exhaustive study. The final sections of the dissertation are devoted to a cross-study discussion of new ways of interpreting and describing the research material presented in four sub-studies. This discussion does not aim at obtaining better or more correct results; instead, it aims at presenting a different aspect of these results. It acknowledges different spatial and temporal locations and the ways in which these locations affect the production of knowledge

Because women will always be women and men are just getting older: Intersecting discourses of ageing and gender

The aim of this article is to examine a meeting between discourses of gender and age at the macro-level, applying an intersectional research approach. The discussion of intersecting discourses is based on empirical material from Poland. It refers to the condition of social policy towards age and gender, in Poland, as well as the media discourse. The results of the study indicate that the intersection between discourses of age and gender involves discriminatory practices that result in an establishment of one-dimensional and pejorative subject positions. Two main subject positions of grandma and pensioner exemplify the main mechanism of a dynamic relationship between both discourses where the order implied by one discourse is strengthened at the expense of the other. The phenomenon of gendered age and aged gender reflects the key rule for understanding subject positions which pertain to categories of older women and older men

Introductory Remarks

In one of the most widely used definitions of qualitative research, Denzin and Lincoln (2005, p. 3) describe this practice as consisting of “a set of interpretive, material practices that make the world visible”. However, as much as qualitative research “locates the observer in the world”, it also locates the observed in research. This intrinsic complexity of qualitative research becomes even more prominent in research inquiring into such highly social and cultural phenomena as age and ageing