Ageing Societies

作者:Timonen, Virpi

页数:224

出版时间:2008-4

价格:$ 174.02

isbn号码:9780335222704

具体描述

"This introductory text is a sound, basic overview. It is well structured, and easily accessible both to lay persons, who may have little knowledge or experience of social gerontology, as well as to students who may seek to explore and develop insights further, within what is a relatively recent intellectual tradition." Christine Atwell, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK "Ageing Societies: A Comparative Introduction provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of ageing, highlighting the inter-connections between health, economic and social aspects of ageing. Virpi Timonen's book is written in a lively and accessible style and will be particularly valuable for undergraduates and students on professional courses. " Sara Arber, University of Surrey, UK "Timonen does an excellent job of explaining both very basic concepts and complex aspects, thus making this book accessible to a broad range of readers. There are only very few exceptions where this is neglected. Overall, therefore, this is a very balanced approach to an important and vast subject area that manages to balance a social critique that calls us to address and adapt ageing socially, politically and economically, with an optimistic view of the achievements and opportunities that these developments bring with them." VANESSA BECKUniversity of Leicester "It is very refreshing to read a book which achieves the delicate balance between celebrating age and ageing without losing the message that there are distinct biological, psychological and social challenges for older people in all societies ...The volume is well written in a jargon-free, lively and accessible style, and any necessary acronyms and technical vocabulary are fully explained to the reader ...I have no doubt that the book will be of interest to both undergraduate and postgraduate students in fields such as gerontology, social policy, social work, sociology, nursing, as well as professionals and practitioners who work with older people. Timonen provides a clear, well-organised, wide-ranging and comprehensible introduction to the complex and highly topical subject of ageing and its global and social diversity." KATE DAVIDSONCentre for Research on Ageing and Gender,University of Surrey, Guildford, UK What is ageing? Why is ageing important and how can we understand it better? How does policy and practice in relation to ageing populations differ across the globe?This book aims to convince readers that ageing is not boring, threatening or depressing, but that it has enormous relevance for the young and the old alike. Virpi Timonen provides an engaging introduction to the central social, economic and political aspects and impacts of ageing and makes the case for the importance of analysing ageing from a number of different perspectives. Using comparative international data, the author provides a detailed description of the process of population ageing, including increasing longevity, changes in fertility and variations in the health status of older populations. In addition, the book sets out the social context and background of ageing, discussing related and relevant developments, such as: Changes in family structures Patterns of household formation Women's labour market participation Income and work in older age Health and social care of older people Attitudes towards older peopleThe book highlights the nature of ageing as an individual and societal experience. The author succeeds in arguing that whilst ageing is becoming an increasingly widespread and global experience, age-related policies, practices and consequently the actual lived experience of ageing differ greatly between countries and regions of the world. Ageing Societies is of interest and use to both undergraduate and postgraduate students in fields such as gerontology, social policy, social work, sociology, nursing, as well as professionals and practitioners in the eldercare sectors and general readers from a wide variety of backgrounds who wish to gain an understanding of the complex and highly topical subject of ageing.

用户评价

我最近一直在关注社会结构的变化，尤其是对人口老龄化带来的冲击感到忧心忡忡。这本书带给我的震撼，更多是源自它对“时间”这个维度的深刻洞察。它不像我读过的其他社会科学书籍那样，只关注眼前的政策制定或经济预测，而是将目光放到了未来几代人的生活图景上。书中的一个章节专门分析了“百岁人生”对个人职业规划和情感依恋的颠覆性影响。作者用一系列生动的案例——从一位九十多岁高龄仍在学习编程的退休教师，到一个家庭中四代人共同抚养一个孩子的场景——来描绘这种“拉长的人生”如何要求我们彻底重塑对“成熟”和“衰老”的定义。我个人非常喜欢这种充满人性温度的分析，它让我从冰冷的数字中看到了活生生的人在努力适应这种前所未有的生命长度。它没有提供简单的解决方案，而是提供了一套全新的思维框架，帮助读者去理解和接纳这种“时间的延展性”本身就是我们这个时代最核心的议题。这本书的文笔非常流畅，甚至带着一种近乎诗意的哲思，读起来是一种享受。

我通常阅读非虚构类书籍时，比较注重作者的论证是否具有说服力，尤其是在处理复杂、敏感的社会议题时。这本书在这方面做得非常出色。它非常巧妙地平衡了对社会变革的乐观与谨慎。举个例子，书中详尽分析了“健康老龄化”政策的推广，但同时，它也毫不留情地指出了这种理想化叙事背后可能存在的阶层固化风险——只有富裕和受过良好教育的人群才能真正享受到“健康延长”的红利，而社会底层可能面临的是“病痛延长”的窘境。作者的这种“两面性”观察，让整个论述显得异常立体和真实。这不是一本歌颂进步或鼓吹危机的书，它更像是一份冷静的“社会诊断书”，提供了一系列强有力的证据链来支持其观点，同时又为未来的政策制定留下了足够的讨论空间。我读完后，对如何构建一个真正包容性的社会有了更复杂、更成熟的理解。

这本书，说实话，刚拿到手的时候，我对它的期望值并没有那么高。我以为它会是一本那种老生常谈、充斥着统计数据和晦涩理论的学术著作，读起来肯定枯燥乏味。结果，我被彻底“打脸”了。作者的叙事方式极其引人入胜，他并没有将老年化社会视为一个纯粹的社会学或经济学问题，而是将其置于人类文明演变的大背景下进行探讨。开篇就提出了一个非常犀利的问题：我们是否正在进入一个“静止的黄金时代”，还是一个“缓慢衰退的黄昏”？这种宏大的视角一下子就抓住了我的注意力。随后，书中对不同文化背景下老年人角色的转变进行了细致的描绘，比如东方社会对孝道的重新诠释，以及西方社会中“银发经济”的崛起与伦理困境。我特别欣赏作者在讨论代际公平问题时的那种微妙和克制，他没有简单地指责任何一方，而是力求展现出不同群体在面对资源重新分配时的复杂情感和理性考量。读完第一部分，我感觉自己像是上了一堂关于现代人类社会结构重塑的高端讲座，每一个观点都像是经过了千锤百炼，逻辑严密，论据扎实，让人不得不信服。

老实说，这本书的内容深度，远远超出了我最初对“老龄化研究”的认知边界。我原本以为这会是一本比较“沉闷”的专业读物，但它成功地将宏大的社会学理论与极其细微的日常生活观察编织在了一起。让我印象特别深刻的是关于“孤独经济”的那一节。作者没有停留在描述老年人独居的普遍现象上，而是深入探讨了市场是如何精准捕捉并利用这种“情感空缺”来推销产品和服务，形成了一种悖论式的市场循环。比如，那些设计用来陪伴老年人的高科技产品，其背后隐藏的商业逻辑和对人类基本情感需求的商业化，读起来让人感到一丝寒意，却又无从反驳。这本书的批判性思维非常强，它迫使读者去审视，我们这个社会在追求物质富裕和寿命延长的同时，是否在无意中制造了一种更深层次的“联结缺失”。这本书的结构设计也很有意思，每一章的论点层层递进，像是剥开洋葱一样，揭示出老龄化社会更深层次的结构性矛盾。

这本书的语言风格和行文节奏，简直是教科书级别的范例，尤其是在处理跨学科内容时。我不是一个专业的社会科学背景人士，但阅读起来却毫无阻碍，这要归功于作者高超的表达能力。他能够将复杂的统计模型和历史典故，用极其通俗易懂但绝不失深度的语言表达出来。比如，书中在讨论劳动力结构转型时，穿插了一段关于中世纪行会制度如何应对人口波动的历史类比，这个跨越时空的对话，瞬间将一个现代经济问题变得鲜活起来。这种叙事技巧，让原本可能让人望而却步的严肃主题变得平易近人，却又丝毫不牺牲其思想的厚度。它提供了一种全新的视角，让人意识到，我们今天面对的人口挑战，其实是人类社会在漫长历史中不断重复和应对的母题的现代变体。这本书的整体阅读体验，非常流畅、启发性强，简直是一次知识与思想的酣畅淋漓的旅程。