Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T21:35:40.040Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Expanding the gerontological imagination on ethnicity: conceptual and theoretical perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2014

SANDRA TORRES
SANDRA TORRES*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Uppsala University, Sweden.
*
Address for correspondence: Sandra Torres, Department of Sociology, Uppsala University, Box 624, 751 26 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The globalisation of international migration has increased the ethnic diversity of most ageing populations across the Western world. This has implications for gerontological research, policy and practice, and puts our understandings of ethnicity to the test. This paper presents the different perspectives that inform ethnicity scholarship (the essentialist/primordial perspective, the structuralist/circumstantialist perspective and social constructionism) and suggests that the way in which we regard ethnicity has implications for how gerontological research is designed, how policies for old age are formulated and how gerontological practice is shaped. Through a review of contemporary gerontological research on ethnicity published in some of gerontology's main journals, the paper discusses some of the trends observed and concludes that most research seems to be informed by essentialism and structuralism. This suggests that the gerontological imagination on ethnicity has yet to be informed by the latest developments in ethnicity scholarship. The paper therefore urges gerontologists to broaden their understanding of ethnicity and suggests that much could be gained if we were to let the social constructionist perspective on ethnicity and the notion of intersectionality be sources of inspiration for the gerontological imagination on ethnicity.

Keywords

ethnicitycultureethnic ‘Otherness’intersectionalitygerontologyageingold age
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 35 , Issue 5 , May 2015 , pp. 935 - 960
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alpass, F., Pond, R., Stephens, C., Stevenson, B., Keeling, S. and Towers, A. 2013. The influence of ethnicity and gender on caregiver health in older New Zealanders. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 68, 5, 783–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anthias, F. 1998. Rethinking social divisions: some notes towards a theoretical framework. Sociological Review, 46, 3, 505–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aspinall, P. J. 2007. Approaches to developing an improved cross-national understanding of concepts and terms relating to ethnicity and race. International Sociology, 22, 1, 41–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baer, R. D., Arteaga, E., Dyer, K., Eden, A., Gross, R., Helmy, H., Karnyski, M., Papadopoulos, A. and Reeser, D. 2013. Concepts of race and ethnicity among health researchers: patterns and implications. Ethnicity & Health, 18, 2, 211–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bajekal, M., Blane, D., Grewal, I., Karlsen, S. and Nazroo, J. 2004. Ethnic differences in influences on quality of life at older ages: a qualitative analysis. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 709–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barressi, C. M. and Stull, D. E. (eds) 1993. Ethnic Elderly and Long Term Care. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Barth, F. 1969. Ethnic Group and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture Difference. Universitetsförlaget, Oslo.Google Scholar
Barth, F. 1989. The analysis of culture in complex societies. Ethnos, 54, 3–4, 120–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengtson, V. L., Burgess, E. O. and Parrott, T. M. 1997. Theory, explanation, and third generation of theoretical development in social gerontology. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 52B, 2, S72–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengtson, V. L., Parrott, T. M. and Burgess, E. O. 1996. Progress and pitfalls in gerontological theorizing. The Gerontologist, 36, 6, 768–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blakemore, K. and Boneham, M. 1994. Age, Race and Ethnicity: A Comparative Approach. Open University Press, Buckingham, UK.Google Scholar
Bowen, M. E. and Gonzalez, H. M. 2008. Racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between the use of health care services and functional disability: the health and retirement study (1992–2004). The Gerontologist, 48, 5, 659–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradby, H. 2003. Describing ethnicity in health research. Ethnicity & Health, 8, 1, 5–13.Google Scholar
Braun, K. L., Tanji, V. M. and Heck, R. 2001. Support for physician-assisted suicide: exploring the impact for ethnicity and attitudes toward planning for death. The Gerontologist, 41, 1, 51–60.Google Scholar
Brotman, S. 2003. The limits of multiculturalism in elder care services. Journal of Ageing Studies, 17, 2, 209–29.Google Scholar
Bürkner, H.-J. 2011. Intersectionality; how gender studies might inspire the analysis of social inequality among migrants. Population, Space and Place, 18, 2, 181–95.Google Scholar
Calasanti, T. M. 1996. Incorporating diversity: meaning, levels of research, and implications to theory. The Gerontologist, 36, 2, 147–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calasanti, T. M. and Zajicek, A. M. 1993. A socialist-feminist approach to aging: embracing diversity. Journal of Aging Studies, 7, 2, 117–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, B. and Fenton, S. 2010. Not thinking ethnicity; a critique of the ethnicity paradigm in an over-ethnicised sociology. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 40, 1, 1–18.Google Scholar
Castles, S. 2000. Ethnicity and Globalization: From Migrant Worker to Transnational Citizen. Sage, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornell, S. and Hartmann, D. 1998. Ethnicity and Race: Making Identities in a Changing World. Pine Forge, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, K. W. 1989. Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 138–67.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, K. W. 1991. Mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics and violence against women of colour. Stanford Law Review, 43, 6, 1241–99.Google Scholar
Creswell, J. W. 1998. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, London & New Delhi.Google Scholar
Denis, A. 2008. Intersectional analysis: a contribution of feminism to sociology. International Sociology, 23, 5, 677–94.Google Scholar
Dilworth-Anderson, P., Canty Williams, I. and Gibson, B. E. 2002. Issues of race, ethnicity and culture in caregiving research: a 20-year review (1980–2000). The Gerontologist, 42, 2, 237–72.Google Scholar
Dowd, J. J. and Bengtson, V. L. 1978. Ageing in minority populations: an examination of the double jeopardy hypothesis. Journal of Gerontology, 33, 3, 427–36.Google Scholar
Drevdahl, D. J., Phillips, D. A. and Taylor, J. Y. 2006. Uncontested categories: the use of race and ethnicity variables in nursing research. Nursing Inquiry, 13, 1, 52–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunlop, D. D., Manheim, L. M., Song, J. and Chang, R. W. 2002. Gender and ethnic/racial disparities in health care utilization among older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 57B, 3, S221–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiori, K., Consedine, N. S. and Magai, C. 2008. Ethnic differences in patterns of social exchange among older adults: the role of resource context. Ageing & Society, 28, 4, 495–524.Google Scholar
Gelfand, D. E. 1994. Aging and Ethnicity: Knowledge and Services. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Green, J. 1989. Ageing and ethnicity: an emergent issue in social gerontology. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 4, 4, 377–83.Google Scholar
Haas, S. A., Krueget, P. M. and Rohlfsen, L. 2012. Race/ethnic and nativity disparities in later life physical performance: the role of health and socioeconomic status over the life course. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 67, 2, 238–48.Google Scholar
Hall, S. 1996. Introduction: who needs identity? In Hall, S. and du Gay, P. (eds), Questions of Cultural Identity. Sage, London, 1–17.Google Scholar
Hall, S. (ed.) 1997. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Isaac, H. 1975. Idols of the Tribe: Group Identity and Political Change. Harper & Row, New York.Google Scholar
Jackson, M., Kolody, B. and Wood, J. L. 1982. To be old and black: the case for double jeopardy in income and health. In Manuel, R. C. (ed.), Minority Ageing. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut.Google Scholar
James, C. (ed.) 1996. Perspectives on Racism and the Human Service Sector: A Case for Change. University of Toronto Press, Toronto.Google Scholar
Janevic, M. R. and Connell, C. M. 2001. Racial, ethnic, and cultural differences in the dementia caregiving experience: recent findings. The Gerontologist, 41, 3, 334–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jary, D. and Jary, J. 1991. The HarperCollins Dictionary of Sociology. HarperCollins, New York.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R. 1997. Rethinking Ethnicity: Arguments and Explorations. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R. 2000. Categorization: identity, social process and epistemology. Current Sociology, 48, 3, 7–25.Google Scholar
Johnson, J. L., Bottorff, J. L., Browne, A. J., Grewal, S., Ann Hilton, B. and Clarke, H. 2004. Othering and being othered in the context of health care services. Health Communication, 16, 2, 253–71.Google Scholar
Katz Olson, L. 2001. Age Through Ethnic Lenses: Caring for the Elderly in a Multicultural Society. Rowman & Littlefield, Boston, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Kent, D. P. 1971. The elderly in minority groups: variant patterns of aging. The Gerontologist, 11, 1, part 2, 26–9.Google Scholar
Koehn, S. 2009. Negotiating candidacy: ethnic minority seniors’ access to care. Ageing & Society, 29, 4, 585–608.Google Scholar
Koehn, S., Neysmith, S., Kobayashi, K. and Khamisa, H. 2013. Revealing the shape of knowledge using an intersectionality lens: results of a scoping review on the health and health care of ethnocultural minority older adults. Ageing & Society, 33, 3, 437–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramer, J. B. and Barker, J. C. 1994. Ethnicity in the elderly: book review essay. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 9, 4, 403–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwak, J. and Haley, W. E. 2005. Current research findings on end-of-life decision making among racially or ethnically diverse groups. The Gerontologist, 45, 5, 634–41.Google Scholar
Laditka, S. B., Laditka, J. N., Liu, R., Price, A. E., Friedman, D. B., Wu, B., Bryant, L. L., Corwin, S. J. and Ivey, S. L. 2013. How do older people describe others with cognitive impairment? A multiethnic study in the United States. Ageing & Society, 33, 3, 369–92.Google Scholar
Lawrence, V., Samsi, K., Banerjee, S., Morgan, C. and Murray, J. 2010. Threat to valued elements of life: the experience of dementia across three ethnic groups. The Gerontologist, 51, 1, 39–50.Google Scholar
Liang, J., Xu, X., Bennett, J. M., Ye, W. and Quinones, A. R. 2009. Ethnicity and changing functional health in middle and later life: a person-centered approach. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 65B, 4, 470–81.Google Scholar
Lynnott, R. J. and Lynnott, P. P. 1996. Tracing the course of theoretical development in the sociology of aging. The Gerontologist, 36, 6, 749–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manthorpe, J., Iliffe, S., Moriarty, J., Cornes, M., Clough, R., Bright, L., Rapaport, J. and OPRSI. 2009. ‘We are not blaming anyone, but if we don't know about amenities, we cannot seek them out’: black and minority older people's views on the quality of local health and personal social services in England. Ageing & Society, 29, 1, 93–113.Google Scholar
McGarty, C. 1999. Categorization in Social Psychology. Sage, London.Google Scholar
McMullin, J. A. 2000. Diversity and the state of sociological aging theory. The Gerontologist, 40, 5, 517–30.Google Scholar
Mehrotra, C. M. and Wagner, L. S. 2009. Aging and Diversity. Second edition, Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Moriarty, J. and Butt, J. 2004. Inequalities in quality of life among older people from different ethnic groups. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 729–753.Google Scholar
Nagel, J. 1994. Constructing ethnicity; creating and recreating ethnic identity and culture. Social Problems, 41, 1, 152–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peng, T. R., Navaie-Waliser, M. and Feldman, P. H. 2003. Social support, home health service use and outcomes among four racial-ethnic groups. The Gerontologist, 43, 4, 503–13.Google Scholar
Phoenix, A. 2006. Editorial: intersectionality. European Journal of Women's Studies, 13, 3, 187–92.Google Scholar
Pickering, M. 2001. Stereotyping: The Politics of Representation. Palgrave, New York.Google Scholar
Pinquart, M. and Sörensen, S. 2005. Ethnic differences in stressors, resources, and psychological outcomes of family caregiving: a meta-analysis. The Gerontologist, 45, 1, 90–106.Google Scholar
Pon, G. 2009. Culture competency as new racism: an ontology of forgetting. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 20, 1, 59–1.Google Scholar
Prins, B. 2006. Narrative accounts of origins: a blind spot in the intersectional approach? European Journal of Women's Studies, 13, 3, 277–90.Google Scholar
Quine, S. 1999. Health concerns and expectations of Anglo and ethnic older Australians: a comparative approach. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 14, 2, 97–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schans, D. and Komter, A. 2010. Ethnic differences in intergenerational solidarity in the Netherlands. Journal of Aging Studies, 24, 3, 194–203.Google Scholar
Schwalbe, M. 2000. The elements of inequality. Contemporary Sociology, 29, 6, 775–781.Google Scholar
Schwalbe, M., Godwin, S., Holden, D., Schrock, D., Thompson, S. and Wolkomir, M. 2000. Generic processes in the reproduction of inequality: an interactionist analysis. Social Forces, 79, 2, 419–52.Google Scholar
Smedley, A. and Smedley, B. 2005. Race as biology is fiction: racism as a social problem is real. American Psychologist, 60, 1, 16–26.Google Scholar
Stanford, E. P. and Torres-Gil, F. M. (eds) 1992. Diversity: New Approaches to Ethnic Minority Aging. Baywood, Amityville, New York.Google Scholar
Staunaes, D. 2003. Where have all the subjects gone? Bringing together the concepts of intersectionality and subjectification. NORA, 11, 2, 101–10.Google Scholar
Tajfel, H., Billigm, M. G., Bundy, R. P. and Flament, C. 1971. Social categorization and intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 1, 2, 149–78.Google Scholar
Torres, S. 2003. A preliminary empirical test of a culturally-relevant theoretical framework for the study of successful aging. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 18, 1, 73–91.Google Scholar
Torres, S. 2006 a. Culture, migration, inequality and ‘periphery’ in a globalized world: challenges for the study of ethno- and anthropo-gerontology. In Baars, J., Dannefer, D., Phillipson, C. and Walker, A. (eds), Ageing, Globalization and Inequality: The New Critical Gerontology. Baywood, Amityville, New York.Google Scholar
Torres, S. 2006 b. Elderly immigrants in Sweden: otherness under construction. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32, 8, 1341–58.Google Scholar
Torres, S. 2011. Cross-cultural differences in ageing. In Stuart-Hamilton, I. (ed.), An Introduction to Gerontology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Torres, S. 2013. Transnationalism and the study of ageing and old age. In Phellas, C. (ed.), Ageing in European Societies. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Torres, S. 2014. Ethnicity, culture and migration. In Twigg, J. and Martin, W. (eds), Handbook of Cultural Gerontology. Routledge, Abingdon, UK.Google Scholar
Torres, S. and Lawrence, S. 2012. Old age and migration: an introduction to ‘the age of migration’ and its consequences for the field of gerontological social work. European Journal of Social Work, 15, 1, 1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Victor, C. R., Burholt, V. and Martin, W. 2012. Loneliness and ethnic minority elders in Great Britain: an exploratory study. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 27, 1, 65–78.Google Scholar
Wallman, S. (ed.) 1979. Ethnicity at Work. Macmillan, London.Google Scholar
Wear, D., Kumagai, A. K., Varley, J. and Zarconi, J. 2012. Culture competence 2.0: exploring the concept of ‘difference’ in engagement with the Other. Academic Medicine, 87, 6, 752–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitfield, K. E. and Baker, T. A. (eds) 2014. Handbook of Minority Aging. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Williams, D. R. 2005. The health of U.S. racial and ethnic populations. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 60B, special issue II, 53–62.Google Scholar
Williams, D. R. and Wilson, C. M. 2001. Race, ethnicity and ageing. In Binstock, R. H. and George, L. K. (eds), Handbook of Ageing and the Social Sciences. Fifth edition, Academic Press, San Diego, California.Google Scholar
Wimmer, A. 2008. Elementary strategies of ethnic boundary making. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 31, 6, 1025–55.Google Scholar
Winker, G. and Degele, N. 2011. Intersectionality as multi-level analysis: dealing with social inequality. European Journal of Women's Studies, 18, 1, 51–66.Google Scholar
Wray, S. 2007. Women making sense of midlife: ethnic and cultural diversity. Journal of Aging Studies, 21, 1, 31–42.Google Scholar
Yancey, W. L, Ericksen, E. P. and Juliani, R. N. 1976. Emergent ethnicity: review and reformulation. American Sociological Review, 41, 3, 391–403.Google Scholar
Yuval-Davis, N. 2006. Intersectionality and feminist politics. European Journal of Women's Studies, 13, 3, 193–209.Google Scholar
Yuval-Davis, N. 2010. Theorizing identity: beyond the ‘us’ and ‘them’ dichotomy. Patterns of Prejudice, 44, 3, 261–80.Google Scholar