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15 - How Should We Care for the Elderly?

from Part II - Our Lives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2022

By
Amy Clotworthy
Edited by
Daniel Scott Souleles ,
Johan Gersel  and
Morten Sørensen Thaning
Daniel Scott Souleles
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School
Johan Gersel
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School
Morten Sørensen Thaning
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School
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Summary

One remarkable feature of market imperialism as it has affected welfare provision is just how deep it has become entrenched in the act of caring for people. Here, Clotworthy describes how the provision of eldercare in Denmark has been taken over by a system that aims to create idealized, active, and independent older people. Eldercare is thus increasingly subject to a “competition state” focused on optimizing costs by “responsibilizing” both care providers and senior citizens as rational and independent decision-makers. What Clotworthy shows, though, is that creating a welfare system with this sort of ideal in place runs the risk of ignoring the actual person sitting in front of you. The system acts more as a gatekeeper than a care provider, and thus leaves people alienated in their old age. Clotworthy contrasts this with eldercare systems that make a direct provision of care in order to show another way of caring for older adults.

Keywords

capitalismalternativesproblem-solvingDenmarkeldercarecitizenshipneoliberalismmunicipal governmentaging
Type
Chapter
Information
People before Markets
An Alternative Casebook
 , pp. 303 - 331
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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