Anthropology of Aging and Care

In concert with lengthening life spans, emerging forms of care in later life reflect complex and diverse social changes. Embracing a polysemic understanding of care as simultaneously resource and relational practice, this review works across scales of social life and theoretical approaches to care t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnnual review of anthropology Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 277 - 293
Main Author Buch, Elana D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Palo Alto Annual Reviews 01.01.2015
Annual Reviews, Inc
Subjects
Ageing
Aging
Anthropology
intergenerational relations
kinship
life course
morality
Political economy
Politics
Polysemy
reproduction
resources
Social life & customs
Social reproduction
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Summary:In concert with lengthening life spans, emerging forms of care in later life reflect complex and diverse social changes. Embracing a polysemic understanding of care as simultaneously resource and relational practice, this review works across scales of social life and theoretical approaches to care to highlight connections and fissures between global political-economic transformations and the most intimate aspects of daily life. Arguing for analyses of care that account for the kinds of projects, stakes, and obstacles that emerge as people engage in social reproduction in later life, this review traces the circulation of care across aging bodies, everyday practices, families, and nations. Care in later life never exclusively impacts the lives of the old; it is thus a critical site for understanding the diverse ways that increased longevity is shaping the meanings, experiences, and consequences of life itself.
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ISSN:0084-6570
1545-4290
DOI:10.1146/annurev-anthro-102214-014254