Virpi Timonen – författare

What is ageing? Why is ageing important and how can we understand it better? How does policy and practice in relation to ageing populations differ across the globe?This book aims to convince readers that ageing is not boring, threatening or depressing, but that it has enormous relevance for the young and the old alike. Virpi Timonen provides an engaging introduction to the central social, economic and political aspects and impacts of ageing and makes the case for the importance of analysing ageing from a number of different perspectives. Using comparative international data, the author provides a detailed description of the process of population ageing, including increasing longevity, changes in fertility and variations in the health status of older populations.

In addition, the book sets out the social context and background of ageing, discussing related and relevant developments, such as:

Changes in family structures Patterns of household formation Women’s labour market participation Income and work in older age Health and social care of older people Attitudes towards older peopleThe book highlights the nature of ageing as an individual and societal experience. The author succeeds in arguing that whilst ageing is becoming an increasingly widespread and global experience, age-related policies, practices and consequently the actual lived experience of ageing differ greatly between countries and regions of the world.

Ageing Societies is of interest and use to both undergraduate and postgraduate students in fields such as gerontology, social policy, social work, sociology, nursing, as well as professionals and practitioners in the eldercare sectors and general readers from a wide variety of backgrounds who wish to gain an understanding of the complex and highly topical subject of ageing.

"This introductory text is a sound, basic overview. It is well structured, and easily accessible both to lay persons, who may have little knowledge or experience of social gerontology, as well as to students who may seek to explore and develop insights further, within what is a relatively recent intellectual tradition."

Chrisine Atwell, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK

“Virpi Timonen’s book is written in a lively and accessible style and will be particularly valuable for undergraduates and students on professional courses. “Sara Arber, University of Surrey, UK

"Timonen does an excellent job of explaining both very basic concepts and complex aspects, thus making this book accessible to a broad range of readers."Vanessa Beck, University of Leicester, UK

"Timonen provides a clear, well-organised, wide-ranging and comprehensible introduction to the complex and highly topical subject of ageing and its global and social diversity."Kate Davidson, Centre for Research on Ageing and Gender,University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

Introduces the concept of legacy-making: future-oriented actions and ideation concerning the material and environmental effects that humans leave behind with reference to their eventual demise. Interviews conducted in Italy, Sweden, South Korea, and the United States are drawn upon to illuminate material-environmental relationalities and entanglements constructed through everyday legacy-making practices. Material and environmental legacies are made by people within the small worlds of their environments and kinship structures, yet they are also connected to the small world of shared global practices and processes that engender the biggest challenges of our time: socio-economic inequalities, environmental degradation, and climate change. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Introduces the concept of legacy-making: future-oriented actions and ideation concerning the material and environmental effects that humans leave behind with reference to their eventual demise. Interviews conducted in Italy, Sweden, South Korea, and the United States are drawn upon to illuminate material-environmental relationalities and entanglements constructed through everyday legacy-making practices. Material and environmental legacies are made by people within the small worlds of their environments and kinship structures, yet they are also connected to the small world of shared global practices and processes that engender the biggest challenges of our time: socio-economic inequalities, environmental degradation, and climate change. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

This controversial book argues that concepts such as ‘successful’ and ‘active’ ageing - ubiquitous terms in research, marketing and policy making concerned with older adults – are potentially dangerous paradigms that reflect and exacerbate inequalities in older populations.This author presents a new theory to make sense of the popularity of these ‘successful’ and ‘active’ ageing concepts. Readers are invited to view them through the prism of Model Ageing – a theory that throws light on the causes and consequences of attempts to model ageing as a phenomenon and stage of life that is in need of direction, reshaping and control.This is essential reading for anyone seeking to make sense of social constructions of ageing in contemporary societies.

This exciting collection presents an in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the unprecedented phenomenon of increasing numbers of grandparents worldwide, co-existing and interacting for longer periods of time with their grandchildren.The book contains analyses of topics that have so far received relatively little attention, such as transnational grandparenting and gender differences in grandparenting practices. It is the only collection that brings together theory-driven research on grandparenting from a wide variety of cultural and welfare state contexts - including chapters on Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia - drawing broad lines of debate rather than focusing at a country level.Building on the success of ‘Contemporary grandparenting’, edited by Virpi Timonen and Sarah Arber, this book further deepens our understanding of how social structures continue to shape grandparenting across a wide range of cultural and economic contexts. The book is essential reading and reference for researchers, students and policy-makers who want to understand the growing influence of grandparents in ageing families and societies across the world.

This exciting collection presents an in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the unprecedented phenomenon of increasing numbers of grandparents worldwide, co-existing and interacting for longer periods of time with their grandchildren.The book contains analyses of topics that have so far received relatively little attention, such as transnational grandparenting and gender differences in grandparenting practices. It is the only collection that brings together theory-driven research on grandparenting from a wide variety of cultural and welfare state contexts - including chapters on Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia - drawing broad lines of debate rather than focusing at a country level.Building on the success of ‘Contemporary grandparenting’, edited by Virpi Timonen and Sarah Arber, this book further deepens our understanding of how social structures continue to shape grandparenting across a wide range of cultural and economic contexts. The book is essential reading and reference for researchers, students and policy-makers who want to understand the growing influence of grandparents in ageing families and societies across the world.

Concepts like freedom, equality and justice have many uses – and even more misuses. In seeking to manage an increasingly complex world, it is more important than ever to think carefully about the meaning of such concepts which are central to policy debates and integral to implementing effective social policy around the world. This concise and readable book is a guide to those essential social policy concepts. In addition to freedom, equality and justice, the book covers concepts like social risks and rights that are critical for understanding welfare states, and examines social policies through the lenses of power, recognition and investment. It also reflects on the role of social policy in addressing the biggest challenges that humanity faces in the twenty-first century, including the megatrends of inequality and climate change. Drawing on key works and examples from diverse contexts, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students of social policy, sociology, social work and other social sciences, as well as researchers, policymakers, practitioners and activists looking for an accessible introduction to the heart of social policy.

Concepts like freedom, equality and justice have many uses – and even more misuses. In seeking to manage an increasingly complex world, it is more important than ever to think carefully about the meaning of such concepts which are central to policy debates and integral to implementing effective social policy around the world. This concise and readable book is a guide to those essential social policy concepts. In addition to freedom, equality and justice, the book covers concepts like social risks and rights that are critical for understanding welfare states, and examines social policies through the lenses of power, recognition and investment. It also reflects on the role of social policy in addressing the biggest challenges that humanity faces in the twenty-first century, including the megatrends of inequality and climate change. Drawing on key works and examples from diverse contexts, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students of social policy, sociology, social work and other social sciences, as well as researchers, policymakers, practitioners and activists looking for an accessible introduction to the heart of social policy.

Concepts like freedom, equality and justice have many uses – and even more misuses. In seeking to manage an increasingly complex world, it is more important than ever to think carefully about the meaning of such concepts which are central to policy debates and integral to implementing effective social policy around the world. This concise and readable book is a guide to those essential social policy concepts. In addition to freedom, equality and justice, the book covers concepts like social risks and rights that are critical for understanding welfare states, and examines social policies through the lenses of power, recognition and investment. It also reflects on the role of social policy in addressing the biggest challenges that humanity faces in the twenty-first century, including the megatrends of inequality and climate change. Drawing on key works and examples from diverse contexts, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students of social policy, sociology, social work and other social sciences, as well as researchers, policymakers, practitioners and activists looking for an accessible introduction to the heart of social policy.

What happens to extensive and generous welfare states when they are faced with serious economic crisis and the effects of globalization? This thorough analysis of the processes of social policy restructuring in two Nordic welfare states endeavours to answer this and other questions related to their survival in a world of intensifying global competition.Virpi Timonen investigates both the changes that have taken place in central social policies in the areas of pensions, unemployment policies, social and health services, and the political and structural reasons for the pattern of policy change that emerged. A critical evaluation of the roles of globalization, political mechanisms and power relationships in shaping these social policies in Finland and Sweden is also featured.Welfare state specialists and those seeking to understand welfare states as a central constituent of politics in Nordic countries will find Restructuring the Welfare State to be of great interest. The book will also appeal to academics and researchers in the fields of social policy and comparative politics, as well as public and social policy analysts in international organizations such as the OECD and the World Bank.

This book presents an up-to-date comparative analysis of domiciliary care policies for the older populations of Denmark, the United States and Germany with a particular focus on similarities and differences between these care regimes. The authors extend their discussions to include issues of welfare state classification, the changing role of the state as the provider of social care services, the recommodification of the care labour force and the increased emphasis placed on both informal care-giving and consumer power. The book makes an important contribution to the debate about the future care of older people and provides an informative and insightful analysis of the provision of publicly funded domiciliary care services from a cross-national perspective.Home Care for Ageing Populations will be of particular interest to academics working in the fields of social policy, social care, gerontology and public/employment policy and will prove a useful source for researchers conducting comparative analysis of social care systems. It will also be of interest to those within the community services / social care arena and public servants responsible for the coordination and delivery of homecare systems, as well as social workers, general practitioners, occupational therapists, and a host of other specialist staff working with older people.

Grandparenting in the 21st century is at the heart of profound family and societal changes. It is of increasing social and economic significance yet many dimensions of grandparenting are still poorly understood. Contemporary Grandparenting is the first book to take a sociological approach to grandparenting across diverse country contexts and combines new theorising with up-to-date empirical findings to document the changing nature of grandparenting across global contexts.In this highly original book, leading contributors analyse how grandparenting differs according to the nature of the welfare state and the cultural context, how family breakdown influences grandparenting, and explore men's changing roles as grandfathers. Grandparents today face conflicting norms and expectations about their roles, but act with agency to forge new identities within the context of societal and cultural constraints.Contemporary Grandparenting illuminates key issues relevant to students and researchers from sociology and social policy, including in the fields of family, childhood, ageing and gender studies.