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Author: Pat Thane
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 358
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Seven contributors examine how the best thinkers and artists of each historical epoch in the West have treated old age. Full of surprising and fascinating facts, this is an uplifting companion for those who, like it or not, are beginning to understand the inevitability of their own aging process.
Author: Georges Minois
Publisher:
Published: 1999-01-19
Total Pages: 410
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Minois concludes with comments on the most recent turn in this long and complex history--the emotional debate over euthanasia, assisted suicide, and the right to die.
Author: Georges Minois
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 1989-11-28
Total Pages: 376
ISBN-13: 9780226530314
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →History of Old Age is the first major study of the ways in which old age has been perceived in western culture throughout history. Georges Minois paints a vast fresco, starting with the first old man to relate his own story—an Egyptian scribe some 4500 years ago—and ending with the deaths of Elizabeth I and Henry IV in the sixteenth century. Tracing the changing conceptions of the nature, value, and burden of the old, Minois argues that western history during this period is marked by great fluctuation in the social and political role of the aged. Minois shows how, in ancient Greece, the cult of youth and beauty on the one hand, and the reverence for the figure of the Homeric sage, on the other, created an ambivalent attitude toward the aged. This ambiguity appears again in the contrast between the active role that older citizens played in Roman politics and their depiction in satirical literature of the period. Christian literature in the Middle Ages also played a large part in defining society's perception of the old, both in the image of the revered holy sage and in the total condemnation of the aged sinner. Drawing on literary texts throughout, Minois considers the interrelation of literary, religious, medical, and political factors in determining the social fate of the elderly and their relationship to society. This book will be of great interest to social and cultural historians, as well as to general readers interested in the subject of the aged in society today.
Author: Pat Thane
Publisher:
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9780500251263
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Here is an absorbing and startlingly original illustrated study of one of the great - and most neglected - themes in all history: the ways in which society has perceived old people throughout the ages. From increased life expectancy and 'grey gap years' to dwindling pensions, the pros and cons of aging is a constant theme, yet much of the debate continues to be based on assumptions and misconceptions about the past. Is it true, for instance, that people were considered 'old' at fifty? How far have our ideas about the average life-span in previous centuries been distorted by infant mortality? Were the old respected and cared for? Did sexuality survive into old age? Here, for the first time, a group of leading historians address these and allied questions, writing vividly about a topic of great contemporary resonance that has for too long been surrounded by taboo. The visual evidence is a vital part of the story, and here the book is equally original. Drawing upon the rich legacy of art through two millennia, with works by a wide range of artists including Whistler, Rembrandt, Rego and Freud, this enthralling human story presents a picture that is sometimes compassionate, sometimes horrifying, but overall unexpectedly reassuring.
Author: Pat Thane
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2000-05-11
Total Pages: 548
ISBN-13: 0191542172
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →At the end of the twentieth century more people are living into their seventies, eighties, nineties and beyond, a process expected to continue well into the next millennium. The twentieth century has achieved what people in other centuries only dreamed of: many can now expect to survive to old age in reasonably good health and can remain active and independent to the end, in contrast to the high death rate, ill health and destitution which affected all ages in the past. Yet this change is generally greeted not with triumph but with alarm. It is assumed that the longer people live, the longer they are ill and dependent, thus burdening a shrinking younger generation with the cost of pensions and health care. It is also widely believed that 'the past' saw few survivors into old age and these could be supported by their families without involving the taxpayer. In this first survey of old age throughout English history, these assumptions are challenged. Vivid pictures are given of the ways in which very large numbers of older people lived often vigorous and independent lives over many centuries. The book argues that old people have always been highly visible in English communities, and concludes that as people live longer due to the benefits of the rise in living standards, far from being 'burdens' they can be valuable contributors to their family and friends.
Author: W. Andrew Achenbaum
Publisher: JHU Press
Published: 2020-02-25
Total Pages: 307
ISBN-13: 1421435071
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Originally published in 1978. Drawing on a wide range of sources from social, intellectual, and political history, Old Age in the New Land analyzes the changing fates and fortunes of America's elderly in the course of its history. By providing a historical perspective on society's conceptions of aging—and its effects on human lives—Achenbaum's work offers valuable insights for historians, sociologists, gerontologists, and others interested in the "graying" of America.
Author: Tim G. Parkin
Publisher: JHU Press
Published: 2003-05-07
Total Pages: 522
ISBN-13: 9780801871283
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →"Noting that privileges granted to the aged generally took the form of exemptions from duties rather than positive benefits, Tim Parkin argues that the elderly were granted no privileged status or guaranteed social role. At the same time, they were permitted - and expected - to continue to participate actively in society for as long as they were able."--BOOK JACKET.
Author: Richard A. Posner
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 1995
Total Pages: 388
ISBN-13: 9780226675688
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Observing that people change both physically and cognitively as they age, Posner suggests that each of us has, in succession, two separate selves - younger and older - with different abilities, interests, and behaviors, an insight that helps clarify a number of issues concerning the elderly.
Author: Nancy A. Pachana
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2016-11-17
Total Pages: 144
ISBN-13: 0191038466
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Ageing is an activity we are familiar with from an early age. In our younger years upcoming birthdays are anticipated with an excitement that somewhat diminishes as the years progress. As we grow older we are bombarded with advice on ways to overcome, thwart, resist, and, on the rare occasion, embrace, one's ageing. Have all human beings from the various historical epochs and cultures viewed aging with this same ambivalence? In this Very Short Introduction Nancy A. Pachana discusses the lifelong dynamic changes in biological, psychological, and social functioning involved in ageing. Increased lifespans in the developed and the developing world have created an urgent need to find ways to enhance our functioning and well-being in the later decades of life, and this need is reflected in policies and action plans addressing our ageing populations from the World Health Organization and the United Nations. Looking to the future, Pachana considers advancements in the provision for our ageing populations, including revolutionary models of nursing home care such as Green House nursing homes in the USA and Small Group Living homes in the Netherlands. She shows that understanding the process of ageing is not only important for individuals, but also for societies and nations, if the full potential of those entering later life is to be realised. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Author: Hyung Wook Park
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Published: 2016-03-09
Total Pages: 299
ISBN-13: 082298136X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Between 1870 and 1940, life expectancy in the United States skyrocketed while the percentage of senior citizens age sixty-five and older more than doubled—a phenomenon owed largely to innovations in medicine and public health. At the same time, the Great Depression was a major tipping point for age discrimination and poverty in the West: seniors were living longer and retiring earlier, but without adequate means to support themselves and their families. The economic disaster of the 1930s alerted scientists, who were actively researching the processes of aging, to the profound social implications of their work—and by the end of the 1950s, the field of gerontology emerged. Old Age, New Science explores how a group of American and British life scientists contributed to gerontology's development as a multidisciplinary field. It examines the foundational "biosocial visions" they shared, a byproduct of both their research and the social problems they encountered. Hyung Wook Park shows how these visions shaped popular discourses on aging, directly influenced the institutionalization of gerontology, and also reflected the class, gender, and race biases of their founders.
