Centre for Policy on Ageing



Beyond apocalyptic demography — towards a moral economy of interdependence
Author(s)	Ann Robertson
Journal title	Ageing and Society, vol 17, part 4, July 1997
Pages	pp 425-446
Keywords	Social economics ; Needs [elderly] ; Social ethics ; Independence ; Economic status [elderly] ; Social welfare ; Sociology, Social Science ; Theory.
Annotation	Employing a political economy analysis of an ageing population's needs in the context of the postmodern welfare state, this paper attempts to go beyond the narrow confines of the apocalyptic demography argument that an increasingly dependent older population represents social and fiscal catastrophe. Older people are caught between a social ethic which values independence on the one hand, and on the other, a service ethic which constructs them as dependent. The dichotomy between dependence and independence results from the depoliticisation of need, the legacy of radical individualism combined with a postmodern therapeutic ethic. The deeper issues at the heart of the apocalyptic demography argument have to do with issues of need, reciprocity and community. A moral economy of interdependence, based on the notion of reciprocity, transcends the dependency/independence dichotomy, repoliticises need, and thus creates the possibility of a revitalisation of civil society.
Accession Number	CPA-971006003 A
Classmark	W4: IK: TQ: C3: F:W: TY: S: 4D
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.