The Relationship Between Place and Life-Course Transitions in Old-Age Social Exclusion: A Cross-Country Analysis

Abstract

The international literature presents growing evidence of the impact of life transitions in older age on experiences of social exclusion. Older people’s relationship with place potentially plays a mediating role in this interrelation. However, the specific mechanisms through which the older adult place relationship mediates exclusionary outcomes of life-course transitions remain poorly understood in the study of ageing. This chapter investigates how older adults’ relationship with place is interlinked with life-course transitions and old-age social exclusion. To address this interrelation, we present case studies from three different countries, Germany, Ireland and Poland, focusing on individual experiences of retirement and bereavement, and analyse the cases by drawing on the concepts of spatial agency and belonging. We conclude by examining how spatial agency and belonging can protect and empower older people at critical junctures in their lives.