Abstract
The interconnection of social theory to social aspects of aging has grown in recent years. The theoretical movement entitled “structured dependency,” couched in “social class” analysis, has tended to ignore an understanding of aging identity, the body, cultural representations of aging, and positive images of aging, all of which are central features of an emerging postmodern paradigm in gerontological theory. This article argues that the concept of gender can form a useful bridge, a continuity, between structured dependency and postmodernism in theoretical gerontology. Unfortunately, the compartmentalization of these two conceptual approaches has made their links difficult to forge. This article attempts to take a first step in this direction by highlighting the way postmodern ideas can be used to understand a modernist issue—gender in a gerontological context. Also, focusing on the “aging body” as a primary form of analysis generates some novel insights into the importance of both the theoretical understanding and cultural representations of the body.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arber, S., & Ginn, J. (1991). Gender and Later Life: A Sociological Analysis of Resources and Constraints. London: Sage.
Arber, S., & Ginn, J. (Eds.). (1995). Connecting Gender and Ageing: A Sociological Approach. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Bengston, V., Burgess, E., & Parrot, T. (1997). Theory, Explanation, and a Third Generation of Theoretical Development in Social Gerontology. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 52(B), 72–88.
Biggs, S. (1999). The Mature Imagination. Buckingham: Oxford University Press.
Biggs, S., & Powell, J. (1999). Surveillance and Elder Abuse: The Rationalities and Technologies of Community Care. Journal of Contemporary Health, 4(1), 43–49.
Biggs, S., & Powell, J. (2001). A Foucauldian Analysis of Old Age and the Power of Social Welfare. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 12(2), 93–112.
Blaikie, A. (1999). Ageing and Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Braidotti, R. (1994). Nomadic Subjects: Embodiment and Sexual Difference in Contemporary Feminist Theory. New York: Columbia University Press.
Bytheway, B., & Johnson, J. (1998). The Sight of Age. In S., Nettleton & J., Watson (Eds.), The Body in Everyday Life (pp. 76–89). London: Routledge.
Estes, C. (1979). The Aging Enterprise. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Featherstone, M., & Hepworth, M. (1993). Images in Ageing. In J., Bond & P., Coleman (Eds.), Ageing in Society (pp. 144–167). London: Sage.
Featherstone, M., & Wernick, A. (1995). Images of Ageing. London: Routledge.
Friedan, Betty. (1993). The Fountain of Age. London: Cape Books.
Gilleard, C., & Higgs, P. (2001). Cultures of Ageing. London: Prentice Hall.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Gittens, C. (1997). The Pursuit of Beauty. London: NPG.
Greenblatt, Stephen. (1980). Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Grosz, E. (1994). Volatile Bodies. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Gubrium, J.F. (1992). Out of Control: Family Therapy and Domestic Disorder. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Haraway, Donna. (1991). Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. London: Free Association Books.
Harper, S. (1997). Constructing Later Life/Constructing the Body: Some Thoughts from Feminist Theory. In A., Jamieson, S., Harper, & C., Victor (Eds.), Critical Approaches to Ageing and Later Life (pp. 160–171). Buckingham: Open University Press.
Jackson, S., & Powell, J. (2001). Understanding Social Policy in Europe. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 26(6), 181–189.
Longino, C.F., Jr. (1995). Pressure From Our Aging Population Will Broaden Our Understanding of Medicine. Academic Medicine, 72(10), 841–847.
Longino, C.F., Jr. (2000). Beyond the Body: An Emerging Medical Paradigm. In A. M., Warnes, L., Warren, & M., Noland (Eds.), Care Services for Later Life: Transformations and Critiques (pp. 45–59). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Longino, C.F., Jr., & Murphy, J.W. (1995). The Old Age Challenge to the Biomedical Model: Paradigm Strain and Health Policy. Amityville, NY: Baywood Press.
Lyotard, J. (1984). The Postmodern Condition. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Oberg, P., & Tornstam, Lars. (1999). Body Images Among Men and Women of Different Ages. Ageing and Society, 19, 645–658.
Phillipson, C. (1998). Reconstructing Old Age. London: Sage.
Powell, J. (2000). The Importance of a “Critical” Sociology of Old Age. Social Science Paper Publisher, 3(1), 1–5.
Powell, J.L. (2001). Theorizing the “Social” of Gerontology: The Case of the Social Philosophies of Age. Sincronia: Journal of Cultural Studies, 4(2), 1–10.
Powell, J., & Biggs, S. (2000). Managing Old Age: The Disciplinary Web of Power, Surveillance, and Normalization. Journal of Aging and Identity, 5, 3–13.
Rich, Adrienne (1976). Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. New York: Norton.
Shilling, C. (1993). The Body & Social Theory. London: Sage.
Sontag, S. (1991). Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and its Metaphors. London: Penguin.
Twigg, J. (2000). Social Policy and the Body. In G., Lewis, S., Gewirtz, & J., Clarke (Eds.), Rethinking Social Policy (pp. 32–46). London: Sage.
Walker, A. (1981). Towards a Political Economy of Old Age. Ageing and Society, 1, 73–94.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Powell, J.L., Longino, C.F. Postmodernism Versus Modernism: Rethinking Theoretical Tensions in Social Gerontology. Journal of Aging and Identity 7, 219–226 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020757420116
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020757420116