W. Andrew Achenbaum - Böcker

Generational conflict has attracted considerable attention in the media and within academic circles during the past decade. At the center of this collection of papers analyzing various facets of that conflict lie complex issues of generational equity - issues that will remain important for the framing of public policy during the 1990s, What do the young and the middle-aged owe the elderly? In discharging that debt, to what extent are they able to provide for their own old age in a climate of changing notions of welfare? What light do the longer perspectives of history shed on these issues? What role do kinship, gender, and economic status play?The papers commissioned by Bengtson and Achenbaum are intended to give greater analytic rigor to current debates. The volume is interdisciplinary not only by theoretical intent but by the practical imperatives of gerontology. More than a dozen sociologists, economists, historians, demographers, and policy analysts discuss the meanings and ambiguities that are inherent in terms such as "generation," "equity," "compact," "contract," and "conflict," in order to assess how relations between the age groups seem to vary from one sociohistorical context to the next.This distinguished group of contributors raises comparative issues throughout, assessing variations in generational ties by gender, race, class, and geographic location. Several project the extent to which recent changes in the political economy, public philosophy, and demographic structure of most "modern" societies presage greater conflicts, or greater consensus, in family members' relationships and social ties.

Robert Neil Butler (1927-2010) was a scholar, psychiatrist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who revolutionized the way the world thinks about aging and the elderly. One of the first psychiatrists to engage with older men and women outside of institutional settings, Butler coined the term "ageism" to draw attention to discrimination against older adults and spent a lifetime working to improve their status, medical treatment, and care. Early in his career, Butler seized on the positive features of late-life development-aspects he documented in his pathbreaking research on "healthy aging" at the National Institutes of Health and in private practice. He set the nation's age-based health care agenda and research priorities as founding director of the National Institute on Aging and by creating the first interprofessional, interdisciplinary department of geriatrics at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital. In the final two decades of his career, Butler created a global alliance of scientists, educators, practitioners, politicians, journalists, and advocates through the International Longevity Center. A scholar who knew Butler personally and professionally, W.Andrew Achenbaum follows this pioneer's significant contributions to the concept of healthy aging and the notion that aging is not synonymous with physical and mental decline. Emphasizing the progressive aspects of Butler's approach and insight, Achenbaum affirms the ongoing relevance of his work to gerontology, geriatrics, medicine, social work, and related fields.

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Following an introduction that outlines the history and projects the future of gerontology, the authors offer insightful profiles of roughly 300 researchers, teachers, and practitioners in aging. North Americans are heavily represented, though gerontologists from Great Britain and the Continent are included as well. The dictionary can be read for an overview of the field, while cross-listings and a complete name and subject index make it an ideal reference. Each entry contains a professional and academic biography, along with citations and succinct descriptions of the individual's important contributions to the study of the elderly and aging.

Franklin Roosevelt envisioned social security to be the cornerstone 'for the kind of protection America wants' from the financial troubles people faced due to old age and family tragedies. By fulfilling its initial promise, social security has evolved into the nation's largest, costliest, and most successful domestic institution. But the optimistic assumptions that inspired its incremental expansion have dissipated in the face of demographic, political, economic, and cultural shifts in American society. Social Security: Visions and Revisions encourages lawmakers, academic experts, and general readers alike to think more broadly and boldly about social security and its relation to public assistance and other income-maintenance and health-care programs. Pulling together information and insights previously scattered and fragmentary, this 1986 book draws lessons from the past that free us of outdated assumptions and unexamined shibboleths. The re-vision of social security that Achenbaum advocates should become the basis of all discussions of government's responsibility to promote 'the general welfare' in our ageing society.

Franklin Roosevelt envisioned social security to be the cornerstone 'for the kind of protection America wants' from the financial troubles people faced due to old age and family tragedies. By fulfilling its initial promise, social security has evolved into the nation's largest, costliest, and most successful domestic institution. But the optimistic assumptions that inspired its incremental expansion have dissipated in the face of demographic, political, economic, and cultural shifts in American society. Social Security: Visions and Revisions encourages lawmakers, academic experts, and general readers alike to think more broadly and boldly about social security and its relation to public assistance and other income-maintenance and health-care programs. Pulling together information and insights previously scattered and fragmentary, this 1986 book draws lessons from the past that free us of outdated assumptions and unexamined shibboleths. The re-vision of social security that Achenbaum advocates should become the basis of all discussions of government's responsibility to promote 'the general welfare' in our ageing society.

Although philosophers, physicians, and others have long pondered the meanings and experiences of growing older, gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. The study of aging borrows from a variety of other disciplines, including medicine, psychology, sociology and anthropology, but its own scientific basis is still developing. Despite dozens of aging-related journals, and a notable increase in state, regional, national and international networks, there are no widely shared techniques or distinctive methods. Theories of aging remain partial and tentative. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, Crossing Frontiers shows how old age became a 'problem' worth investigating and how a multidisciplinary orientation took shape. Gerontology is a marginal intellectual enterprise but its very strengths and weaknesses illuminate the politics of specialization and academic turf-fighting in U.S. higher education.

Although philosophers, physicians, and others have long pondered the meanings and experiences of growing older, gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. The study of aging borrows from a variety of other disciplines, including medicine, psychology, sociology and anthropology, but its own scientific basis is still developing. Despite dozens of aging-related journals, and a notable increase in state, regional, national and international networks, there are no widely shared techniques or distinctive methods. Theories of aging remain partial and tentative. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, Crossing Frontiers shows how old age became a 'problem' worth investigating and how a multidisciplinary orientation took shape. Gerontology is a marginal intellectual enterprise but its very strengths and weaknesses illuminate the politics of specialization and academic turf-fighting in U.S. higher education.

Impelled by the realization that his undergraduate students seem unaware of their place in a personal or societal trajectory over time, Achenbaum has written a book that will capture the attention of students and others alike. He states, "Life's Uncertain Voyage attempts to grapple with major issues associated with societal aging from a historical perspective." Grounding his assessment in literature, philosophy, and history, Achenbaum looks at the demographics of our aging society and the impact on employment and markets, education, health care, religion and spirituality, and political action. The book "ends by challenging the Baby Boomers to be trailblazers as members of particular networks and as citizens of the world." The reviewer says, "Researchers have been aware for some time that the 'aging experience' is not uniform and the population of elders markedly diverse. The 'Uncertain [Voyage]' will be distinctive in offering an extended and tightly knit exploration of these phenomena and [...] in doing so with the perspective of a masterful historian."This book will be read by students and professionals in adult development and aging (psychology and gerontology); some general readers may also be interested.

A critical gerontology requires more than a simple elaboration of existing humanistic scholarship on aging. This exceptional new work introduces a basis for genuine dialogue across humanistic, scientific, and professional disciplines. Among the topics addressed are industrial employment, retirement, life styles of older women, and biological research. From philosophical reflections on the "third age" to critical perspectives on institutional adaptations to an aging society, this book presents a wide range of provocative thought.

This book offers a unique multigenerational approach to saving Social Security. Public programs have adapted to societal aging, but fears overwhelm hopes for Social Security’s future prospects. Conservatives want to privatize operations that liberals seek to expand. Younger workers are happy that Social Security protects their elders, but most do not expect benefits when needed. Achenbaum reframes conflicting perspectives and offers new models of respectful transgenerational dialogue that can mobilize pragmatic reforms. Designed for use in gerontology, social work, and public policy courses, Safeguarding Social Security for Future Generations offers measured hope for leaving a legacy that safeguards the common good.

This book offers a unique multigenerational approach to saving Social Security. Public programs have adapted to societal aging, but fears overwhelm hopes for Social Security’s future prospects. Conservatives want to privatize operations that liberals seek to expand. Younger workers are happy that Social Security protects their elders, but most do not expect benefits when needed. Achenbaum reframes conflicting perspectives and offers new models of respectful transgenerational dialogue that can mobilize pragmatic reforms. Designed for use in gerontology, social work, and public policy courses, Safeguarding Social Security for Future Generations offers measured hope for leaving a legacy that safeguards the common good.

This book seeks to map out the parameters and boundaries of soulful aging and explores philosophical and theological perspectives on the way we grow older. It extends work in the behavioural and social sciences which address the diverse and contested connections of older people’s inner voices and social relationships. Building on qualitative and quantitative research in age studies and gerontology, this volume extends concepts and stories that attest to the joys, tensions, and paradoxes that mount with advancing years. From ten authors versed in writing from multi-disciplinary and inter-professional perspectives with clarity, the book conjoins and challenges behavioural thoughts-and-actions and religious/spiritual spheres of late-life human development previously presented in the context of positive and productive aging as well as healthful, wise, and successful ‘Saging’.Interdisciplinary and insightful, Soulful Aging will be a key resource for scholars and researchers of religion, theology, philosophy, psychology, gerontology, and sociology. It was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging.

This book seeks to map out the parameters and boundaries of soulful aging and explores philosophical and theological perspectives on the way we grow older. It extends work in the behavioural and social sciences which address the diverse and contested connections of older people’s inner voices and social relationships. Building on qualitative and quantitative research in age studies and gerontology, this volume extends concepts and stories that attest to the joys, tensions, and paradoxes that mount with advancing years. From ten authors versed in writing from multi-disciplinary and inter-professional perspectives with clarity, the book conjoins and challenges behavioural thoughts-and-actions and religious/spiritual spheres of late-life human development previously presented in the context of positive and productive aging as well as healthful, wise, and successful ‘Saging’.Interdisciplinary and insightful, Soulful Aging will be a key resource for scholars and researchers of religion, theology, philosophy, psychology, gerontology, and sociology. It was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging.