The Globalization of Capital, the Welfare State, and Old Age Policy

Abstract

A new political economy is shaping the lives of present and future generations of older people. The key change has been the move from the mass institutions that defined growing old in the period from 1945 through the late 1970s to the more individualized structures--privatized pensions, privatized health and social care--that increasingly inform the current period. The authors examine the role of international governmental organizations in promoting this trend, with examples drawn from the work of the World Bank, World Trade Organization, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the relationship between international governmental organizations and the state. The article concludes with an assessment of the changes to citizenship that accompany globalization and the implications for political organization among older people themselves.

International and European policy on work and retirement: Reinventing critical perspectives on active ageing and mature subjectivity

“…While 1998 marked a broader approach of active ageing for the OECD, its final document does not even use the phrase and focuses entirely on employment and what could be called a productivist version of legitimate ageing (Biggs, 2004;Estes et al, 2003). Some critical gerontologists have considered this move to be a neo-liberal 'rolling back of the state' (Estes and Phillipson, 2002;Walker and Deacon, 2003); however, we would emphasize that it does not represent an 'absence of government' so much as a change to the idea of 'governing less' and in different ways (Foucault, 2008). This point will be followed up in a later section of this article.…”

“…In neo-liberalism, he argues, the main target of government is to 'govern less' ('moindre gouvernement'). Contrary to certain gerontologists (Estes and Phillipson, 2002), he states that this principle does not lead to an absence of State (Foucault, 2008). On the contrary, the market is reinterpreted as a continuation, with some changes, of politics.…”

Ageism in a Cross-Cultural Perspective: Reflections from the Research Field

“…Welfare and social policy discourses have been identified as important sites of ageism (Biggs 2001), clearly contributing to, if not shaping, intergenerational conflicts (Estes and Phillipson 2002), and invoking irrational fear of the ageing population (Vincent 1996). However, the reading of such policies and interpreting them in a cross-cultural context is far from easy.…”

Intergenerational inequity arguments and the implications for state-funded financial support of older people

“…Within these commentaries, people are categorised according to generational cohort, with baby boomers depicted as benefiting at the expense of younger people. New Zealand's universal state-funded pension policies are highlighted as contributing to this growing inequity across generations, and the different generational groups are cast into competition for resources amidst a climate of intergenerational conflict (Estes and Phillipson 2002).…”