Transnational ageing : current insights and future challenges

This book focuses on the diverse interrelationships between aging and transnationality. It argues that the lives of older people are increasingly entangled in transnational contexts on the social as well as the cultural, economic and political levels. Within these contexts, older people both actively contribute to and are affected by border-crossing processes. In addition, while some may voluntarily opt for adding a transnational dimension to their lives, others may have less choice in the matter. Transnational aging, therefore, provides a critical lens on how older people shape, organize and cope with life in contexts that are no longer bound to the frame of a single nation-state. Accordingly, the book emphasizes the agency of older people as well as the personal and structural constraints of their situations. The chapters in this book reveal these aspects by approaching transnational aging from different methodological angles, such as ethnographic research, comparative studies, quantitative data, and policy and discourse analysis. Geographically, the chapters cover a wide range of countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, such as Namibia, Thailand, Russia, Germany, the United States and Ecuador. "This volume explores issues of aging in contexts that are no longer limited to the framework of a single nation-state. It gathers an international range of contributors to examine the micro level of everyday life, biographical projects and identities of the elderly, the meso level of social security systems, social institutions and services for old people, and the macro level in which social policy and the development of the welfare state are challenged"-- Provided by publisher Pt. A. Aging and the family in transnational contexts : cross-border activities and intergenerational relationships -- pt. B. Migration in later life : transnational strategies and managing risk in old age -- pt. C. Facets of old-age care in a transnational world : traveling institutions, boundary objects, and regimes of inequality -- pt. D. Social protection and transnational aging : the circulation of ideas and the role of nongovernmental actors