Perspectives on ageing, later life and ethnicity: ageing research in ethnic minority contexts

Abstract

This special issue focuses broadly upon questions and themes relating to the current conceptualisations, representations and use of ‘ethnicity’ (and ethnic minority experiences) within the field of social gerontology. An important aim of this special issue is to explore and address the issue of ‘otherness’ within the predominant existing frameworks for researching those who are ageing or considered aged, compounded by the particular constructions of their ethnicity and ethnic ‘difference’. The range of theoretical, methodological and empirical papers included in this collection provide some critical insights into particular facets of the current research agendas, cultural understandings and empirical focus of ethnic minority ageing research. The main emphasis is on highlighting the ways in which ethnic cultural homogeneity and ‘otherness’ is often assumed in research involving older people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and how wider societal inequalities are concomitantly (re)produced, within (and through) research itself – for example, based on narrowly defined research agendas and questions; the assumed age and/or ethnic differences of researchers vis-à-vis their older research participants; the workings of the formalised ethical procedures and frameworks; and the conceptual and theoretical frameworks employed in the formulation of research questions and interpretation of data. We examine and challenge here the simplistic categorisations and distinctions often made in gerontological research based around research participants' ethnicity, age and ageing and assumed cultural differences. The papers presented in this collection reveal instead the actual complexity and fluidity of these concepts as well as the cultural dynamism and diversity of experiences within ethnic groups. Through an exploration of these issues, we address some of the gaps in existing knowledge and understandings as well as contribute to the newly emerging discussions surrounding the use of particular notions of ethnicity and ethnic minority ageing as these are being employed within the field of ageing studies.

Ageing as a migrant: vulnerabilities, agency and policy implications

“…Baldassar, Baldock, and Wilding 2007;Horn and Schweppe 2016;Karl and Torres 2016;Lawrence and Torres 2016; Walsh and Näre 2016) and special issues (e.g. Ciobanu and Hunter 2017;Torres and Lawrence 2012; Warnes and Williams 2006;Zubair and Norris 2015) have taken over this research topic. The subject of older migrants, however, is bound to raise the attention of scholars with different backgrounds as it is placed at the intersection of migration studies and gerontology, but also nursing (van Holten and Soom Ammann 2016), mobilities (Botterill 2016;Buffel 2015;Ziegler and Schwanen 2011) and social policies (Blakemore 1999;Torres and Lawrence 2012).…”

Do religious activities among young–old immigrants act as a buffer against the effect of a lack of resources on well-being?

“…Due to demographic changes as a result of migration and population aging, immigrants are now beginning to constitute the fastest growing segment of the population over 55 in many Western European countries (Zubair & Norris, 2015). Gerontological studies find that levels of health and wellbeing among immigrants are typically lower than among native populations (Bolzman, Poncioni-Derigo, Vial, & Fibbi, 2004).…”

Ethnoculturally-profiled care: Dementia caregiving targeted towards Middle Eastern immigrants living in Sweden.

“…This has since been further developed, in both practice (where both ethnogerontology and ethnogeriatrics are now common in many care education's curricula) as well as in gerontological research. Just recently, a special issue on 'Ageing and Ethnicity' was published (in Ageing and Society, 2015, volume 35, issue 5) where current conceptualizations, representations and use of ethnicity within the field of social gerontology were explored and where the main emphasis was on highlighting how ethnic cultural homogeneity and otherness often are assumed in research involving older persons from ethnic minority backgrounds as well as discussing how wider societal inequalities often are reproduced within and through research itself (Zubair and Norris 2015). Likewise, ageing (and dementia) have also attained greater focus within anthropological research.…”