Publication details
Modes of Incorporation in Study of Norms on Ageing
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | We argue that there are growing efforts of older people, both as individuals and as groups, to develop strategies which would remove their age /generation based minority status and problematise their marginal position in power structures within societies. We apply J.C. Alexander´s ”modes of incorporation” – hyphenation, assimilation and multiculturalism – in order to describe the ways members of a “submissive” age group try more or less actively, actually or symbolically, to reduce the gap between their stigmatization and utopian assumptions regarding equality, solidarity and respect. In terms of age, the definition of hyphenation characterises the notion of active ageing, and assimilation in many ways resembles anti-ageing pursuits. On the other hand, within multiculturalistic approaches the diversity and uniqueness of age become a source of identification across groups. Marginal characteristics are viewed as valuable per se, as a variation on the theme of citizenship. So, while both assimilation and hyphenation turn what is unique into what is universal (age), multi-age-culturalism converts what is universal into what is unique (cf. slogan “Grey is beautiful” etc.). In our survey of a representative sample of the 50-70 age group in the Czech Republic, we tested the preferences towards hyphenation (active ageing), assimilation (anti-ageing), and multiculturalism (age-acceptance) in order to show whether there is a general tendency towards one of these approaches. Hyphenation has become most prevalent, followed by multi-age-culturalism, assimilation being labelled relatively less as an ideal. However, there are inter-group variances and socio-political contexts which will be discussed. |
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