Ageing activists

Who gets involved in older people's forums

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11202190
AutoresMarian Barnes (University of Brighton, autor de correspondencia), Elizabeth Harrison (0000-0002-6923-9410), Lesley Murray (0000-0001-7563-3695, University of Brighton)
Año2012
Volumen32
Número2
Páginas261-280
Fecha de publicación2012-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAgeing and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0144-686X • E-ISSN: 1469-1779
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0144686x11000328
OpenAlexW2074274062
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas30
Referencias citadas24

Based on research with members of two Senior Citizens Forums in the South East of England, this article examines the biographies and motivations of those who get involved in such activities, with particular emphasis on (a) how they see themselves in relation to ‘other older people’ and (b) their relationships with the places in which they live. We address these issues in relation to the characterisation of participants in such forums as the ‘usual suspects’ whose legitimacy to speak on behalf of others may be questioned, and by reference to a growing recognition of the significance of place in the lives of older people. Whilst the locations of the two Forums studied are geographically close, culturally they are quite distinct and we identify important differences in motivations, backgrounds and priorities of forum members in the two places that are associated with these differences. Our research confirms that place-based participation tends to engage those who are fitter and who have more social and cultural capital, but questions assumptions that this means they are spaces for the pursuit of self-interest

Legitimacy · Media studies · Older people · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Relation (database) · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Medicine · Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies · Rural development and sustainability · Gerontology