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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Volunteering in retirement migration
— meanings and functions of charitable activities for older British residents in Spain | | Author(s) | Heiko Haas |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 33, no 8, November 2013 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, November 2013 |
| Pages | pp 1374-1400 |
| Source | journals.cambridge.org/aso |
| Keywords | Voluntary work [elderly] ; Voluntary agencies ; Migration ; Retired persons ; Spain. |
| Annotation | Volunteering is a ubiquitous and distinct feature of the British retired community in Spain. For many older migrants, volunteering constitutes a significant part of their post-retirement life abroad. Voluntary organisations have come to play a crucial role not only for the British community but also for the Spanish host society and public health-care system - especially in the management and organisation of health and age-related problems. Furthermore, volunteering represents a valuable sphere of activity, which offers personal benefits for those who are actively engaged. This paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a charity organisation in the province of Alicante on the northern Costa Blanca. It examines the extensive functions that volunteering and charitable activities can offer British older migrants. The implementation of voluntary work within the specific context of retirement migration is identified as a multi-functional individual and societal resource. Volunteering for the retirees is described as a true means of adaptation to a new life context, and as a highly reflexive strategy of risk minimisation and self-realisation. This implies individual benefits and opens up possibilities of active ageing. Volunteering is analysed as a performative expression of transmigrants' cultural bifocality, reflecting both a high level of commitment to Spain as well as a specific feature of British community spirit and traditionalism. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-131018211 A |
| Classmark | GHH: PK: TN: BB6: 76S |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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