442 research outputs found
“This is your life you have to live with the memories”: Older migrant women’s reflections on living with the past
No full textMemories collected across the life-course often inform our sense of who we are and what is important to us, as we grow older. This article draws on the findings of two qualitative life-history research projects that set out to explore older UK migrant women’s quality of life across the life course. It has two main aims. One aim is to contribute to existing theorizations of social memory. Another aim is to show the extent to which migrant women’s memories of life-altering events influence their satisfaction with life as they grow older. The article concludes by arguing for an approach to the study of ageing that is sensitive to the impact of memories on our experiences of growing older
Women growing older: agency, ethnicity and culture
No full textThis article considers the extent to which gerontological theories, that highlight the problems associated with later life, reflect the experiences of older women across ethnic and cultural difference. It is based on an ESRC research study examining women’s experiences of growing old across ethnicity and culture. Concepts that are often used to measure these experiences include ‘quality of life’ and ‘successful ageing’.These are linked to other culturally related concepts such as agency, self-autonomy, independence and dis/empowerment.Yet, while it is the case that the meanings attached to these concepts change according to locality and context, they are often applied in a way that reifies dominant values and perceptions.
Central to this article is the contention that gerontological approaches have often made ethnic and cultural experiences of later life invisible. Further, such approaches have assumed that agency is something that is either present or absent and that this is linked almost exclusively to income, housing, and other structures. A key argument is that this has led to an overstatement of the effects of structural disadvantage and a neglect of the diverse individual and collective strategies women use to maintain agency and control in later life. Empirical evidence presented in the article suggests there are significant cultural differences in the meanings older women attach to self-fulfilment and ‘successful ageing’
"The Ownership Society: Social Security Is Only the Beginning"
No full textFrom this paper's Preface, by Dr. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, President: As his new term begins, President Bush has been trying to focus his domestic agenda on what he calls the Òownership society,Ó a sweeping vision of an America in which more citizens would hold significant assets and be free to make their own choices about providing for their health care and retirement, and educating their children. L. Randall Wray, who has written for the Levy Institute on many topics, evaluates the premises and logic of this program in this new public policy brief. Wray points out that much of the history of the Western world since the advent of liberalism has been marked by a gradual rise in the power of those who lack property. Some of the milestones in this progression include universal suffrage, regulation of business, and progressive taxation. BushÕs ownership society proposals, according to Wray, would result in a partial reversal of the progress of the last 250 years. The reason is that, while BushÕs plans would undoubtedly increase the choices and power of those who have property, they would fail to democratize ownership. Many gains to the wealthy would come at the expense of the poor, the sick, and the elderly. Consider, for example, the condition of the nationÕs private pension system. Increasingly, firms are switching from defined-benefit to definedcontribution plans. This development would seem on its surface to favor the establishment of a new class of stockholders, empowered and holding a larger stake in the system. But, as Wray demonstrates, retirement accounts and other assets just do not add up to a substantial amount for most Americans. This means that most citizens have much to lose indeed from attacks on Social Security and the erosion of the traditional pension system. Much as the safety net for the poor has largely vanished since the Reagan years, the bread-and-butter benefits and rights of the middle class are now threatened by the ownership-society agenda. To many, the claim made by Republicans that all should take responsibility for their wellbeing rings true. But it is important to keep in mind the real alternative to public benefits for the middle class: a society in which success would depend largely upon luck, inheritances, or charity. A society that forces individuals to read their future in their Microsoft Money files inevitably creates a class of nonowners who are insecure and lack independent means. Ironically, this runs up against the aims of those who sincerely hope for a world in which more have the opportunity to become rich: moving upward often brings some setbacks along the way, which might be fatal in a world of reduced bankruptcy protection, disability and medical benefits, and educational aid.
"The Return of Big Government--Policy Advice for President Obama"
No full textIn the current global financial crisis, economists and policymakers have reembraced Big Government as a means of preventing the reoccurrence of a debt-deflation depression. The danger, however, is that policy may not downsize finance and replace money manager capitalism. According to Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray, we need a permanently larger fiscal presence, with more public services. His advice to President Obama is to discard all of former Treasury Secretary Paulson's actions. Wray believes that we can afford any necessary spending and bailouts, and that these actions will not burden our grandchildren.
"Government Deficits, Liquidity Preference, and Schumpeterian Innovation"
No full textWray asserts that rigorous analyses of the role played by innovation in economic development must acknowledge the contribution of Joseph Schumpeter. However, the author suggests that the current stagnation confronting most developed, capitalist economies "cannot be understood without synthesizing Schumpeter's insights with those of Kalecki and Keynes." Hence, Schumpeter's work alone is inadequate in explaining the links between government deficits in ensuring aggregate demand and corporate profits.
To what extent do ethnic & cultural diversity influence women’s experiences of growing older?
No full textAlthough women predominate in later life, their diverse experiences of growing older have often been neglected within social gerontology and the sociology of ageing. Instead, the significance of gender and ethnicity and the interrelationship of sexism, racism and ageism, remain under theorised. More recently, some feminists have highlighted the neglect of gender issues and have examined how gendered power relations in society influence women’s experiences of growing older (e.g. Arber & Ginn, 1991, 1995). This has provided insight into why older women are often significantly materially disadvantaged in comparison to men. Additionally how, despite the inequalities they face across the life course, older women are far from being passive victims. However, although feminist scholarship has made older women’s accounts more visible, how these are influenced by ethnic and cultural diversity and the experience of migration remains neglected. Even the concepts used to understand experiences of ageing tend to be western centric and are often applied universally as though they are unchanged by culture. For example, there is a tendency to assume that what it means to age ‘successfully’, and the underlying concepts attached to it such as independence, agency, empowerment, disempowerment and autonomy, will not vary amongst and between ethnic groups. A potential effect of this is the exclusion of those accounts that offer alternative insights into the experience of ageing. In this paper, the accounts of ethnically diverse midlife and older women will be drawn upon to highlight different perceptions and experiences of later life. It will be argued that theories of ageing have to be sensitive to those different voices that construct and make sense of growing olde
Empowerment and disempowerment: a comparative study of afro-caribbean, asian and white British women in their third age
No full textGrant description: The majority of older people are women who now expect more from life than they have in the past. Yet, we have little knowledge about what they regard as quality of life and successful ageing, with the information which is available tending to ignore ethnic minority women. This research compares the views and experiences of older British women from different ethnic groups. It is based on in-depth interviews with able-bodied women of 60-75 years from Afro-Caribbean, Asian and white British backgrounds. The research aims to evaluate their quality of life, how this might successfully be extended and the implications of this for national and local policies. It will explore what women find rewarding and what debilitating, analyse coping strategies and how these might be enhanced and develop a model of the levels at which intervention and support might be most effectiv
Government Deficits, Liquidity Preference, and Schumpeterian Innovation
No full textWray asserts that rigorous analyses of the role played by innovation in economic development must acknowledge the contribution of Joseph Schumpeter. However, the author suggests that the current stagnation confronting most developed, capitalist economies "cannot be understood without synthesizing Schumpeter's insights with those of Kalecki and Keynes." Hence, Schumpeter's work alone is inadequate in explaining the links between government deficits in ensuring aggregate demand and corporate profits
Students read from their original, award wining works at the 2006 Michigan State University Student Writers Awards Night
No full textAt the 2006 Michigan State University Student Writers Awards Night, students read from their original, award wining works. Readers include: double winner Nicholas Miller, Lauren Linsalata, Patrick Walchak, and Chris Goetz. The event is convened and hosted by MSU Professor of English and co-director of Film Studies Jeff Wray. A special appearance to present awards is made by noted author Paul Beatty. Part of the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writers Series. Held in the MSU Main Library
Government Deficits, Liquidity Preference, and Schumpeterian Innovation
No full textWray asserts that rigorous analyses of the role played by innovation in economic development must acknowledge the contribution of Joseph Schumpeter. However, the author suggests that the current stagnation confronting most developed, capitalist economies "cannot be understood without synthesizing Schumpeter's insights with those of Kalecki and Keynes." Hence, Schumpeter's work alone is inadequate in explaining the links between government deficits in ensuring aggregate demand and corporate profits.
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