The Social Reality of Aging

Abstract

This chapter discusses the social reality of aging, emphasizing the discrepancy between positive aging discourse and the social reality of aging in precarious times. The chapter starts out by describing what it means to be living in precarious times, referring to Baumann’s (2007) “living in liquid times” and Grenier’s “new culture of risk” (Grenier et al. 2017). Precarity is defined as a characteristic of modern work conditions (Kalleberg 2009) and pension transitions (Phillipson et al. 2018) but also a quality of human relations (Butler 2004; Portacolone 2013) and a global phenomenon of increased insecurity (Allison 2013). The implications of precarity for aging are discussed by examining the inconsistencies between the positive aging discourse and the social reality of aging. Several examples are used to illustrate this point: precarious work and “disappearing pensions,” the insecurity associated with loneliness, health decline in old age, and the “precariatised mind” as defined by Guy Standing (2011). The “precariatised mind” concept is used to explain how precarity may shape cognitions and emotions.