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The Political Quarterly

The New Ageism

ALAN WALKER

Professor of Social Policy and Social Gerontology, University of Sheffield.

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First published: 05 November 2012
Cited by: 16
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Abstract

This article takes issue with the apparently entrenched political narrative about ageing and older people which is routinely expressed in both ministerial rhetoric and media headlines warning of the ‘burden’ of dependency and intergenerational strife. It argues that this narrative is rooted in the potent combination of ageism and neoliberalism and is being ramped‐up by the Coalition Government's austerity fixation. The social and political risks of this omnipresent narrative are discussed as is the persistence of the case that generational conflict is inevitable, in both the UK and US, despite the complete absence of any evidence supporting it. The article finishes by urging action to alter the course of both individual and societal ageing and so avoid future spending demands as well as improving the quality of life of current and future generations of older people.

Number of times cited according to CrossRef: 16

  • , Public Spending, Taxation, and Ageing, Economics and Ageing, 10.1007/978-3-319-93357-3_2, (35-77), (2018).
  • , Introduction, Inter-generational Financial Giving and Inequality, 10.1057/978-1-349-95047-8_1, (1-32), (2017).
  • , Beyond Ageist Attitudes: Researchers Call for NIH Action to Limit Funding for Older Academics, The Gerontologist, (gnw190), (2017).
  • , The Baby Boomers and the Potential for Inter-Generational Conflict, Inter-generational Financial Giving and Inequality, 10.1057/978-1-349-95047-8_2, (33-60), (2017).
  • , Telehealth in Community Nursing: A Negotiated Order, Sociological Research Online, 22, 4, (152), (2017).
  • , Exercising senior citizenship in an ageist society through participatory action research: A critical occupational perspective, Journal of Occupational Science, (1), (2017).
  • , Active ageing: Realising its potential, Australasian Journal on Ageing, 34, 1, (2-8), (2015).
  • , Financing later life: why financial capability agendas may be problematic, Working with Older People, 19, 1, (41), (2015).
  • , Understanding welfare conditionality in the context of a generational habitus: A qualitative study of older citizens in England, Journal of Aging Studies, 34, (113), (2015).
  • , Unmasking the ‘elderly mystique’: Why it is time to make the personal political in ageing research, Journal of Aging Studies, 35, (123), (2015).
  • , Social media and senior citizen advocacy: an inclusive tool to resist ageism?, Politics, Groups, and Identities, 3, 3, (558), (2015).
  • , Consumption and the constitution of age: Expenditure patterns on clothing, hair and cosmetics among post-war ‘baby boomers’, Journal of Aging Studies, 30, (23), (2014).
  • , Property-based welfare and the search for generational equality, International Journal of Housing Policy, 14, 4, (325), (2014).
  • , Austerity in the city: economic crisis and urban service decline?, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 7, 1, (3), (2014).
  • , Ageism and the valorization of independence: are they connected?, British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 10.1177/0308022618814143, (030802261881414), (2018).
  • , The ideology of ageism versus the social imaginary of the fourth age: two differing approaches to the negative contexts of old age, Ageing and Society, 10.1017/S0144686X19000096, (1-14), (2019).