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For Review
Books and Multimodal Works for Review
This is a list of books available for review in Anthropology & Aging. If you are interested in reviewing one of these titles or have a suggestion for a book that you would like to see reviewed that is not included in this list, please send this information, including the book format you prefer (we encourage e-versions whenever available) to the Anthropology & Aging Book Reviews and Media editor, Christine Verbruggen (christine.verbruggen(at)kuleuven.be).
Please make sure to include your full name, address, and a brief description of your areas of expertise or background that qualifies you for writing a review in this email. If your request is approved, you will receive additional instructions on composing the review. Reviews are typically 1000-1200 words long and submitted within three months of the receipt of the title. Reviews of films, performances, exhibits, or other media with relevance to the anthropology of aging are also welcome!
BOOKS FOR REVIEW
Ceci, Christine, and Mary Ellen Purkis. Care at Home for People Living with Dementia Delaying Institutionalization, Sustaining Families. 2023. Bristol: Policy Press. pp. 208. Price: $92 (Hardcover); $31 (Paperback; eBook). https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/care-at-home-for-people-living-with-dementia
What ‘kind’ of community is demanded by a problem like dementia? As aspects of care continue to transition from institutional to community and home settings, this book considers the implications for people living with dementia and their carers. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and case studies from Canada, this book analyses the intersections of formal dementia strategies and the experiences of families and others on the frontlines of care. Considering the strains placed on care systems by the COVID-19 pandemic, this book looks afresh at what makes home-based care possible or impossible and how these considerations can help establish a deeper understanding necessary for good policy and practice.
Davis, Boyd, and Margaret Maclagan, eds. Dementia Caregiving East and West: Issues of Communication. 2023. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 180. Price: $ 80 (Hardcover); $ 40,5 (Paperback). https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-8463-1.
This book pulls together current practical and adaptable communicative approaches to dementia care from western and eastern researchers, promoting cross-collaboration and global sharing of information.
Discussions of communicative interactions involving caregivers, whether local or migrant, professional or family, are an important part of global aging and aging education. Different countries around the world have different systems and policies governing aging, healthcare, and caregiving as do the different cultures within them. What isn’t different, however, is that dementia occurs in each country and each culture, although it may be acknowledged differently and may or may not be stigmatized or hidden. Ways of looking at dementia caregiving and carework have expanded across multiple cultures and countries, but are not always collected and made conveniently available.
In dementia caregiving, communication with the caregiver is widely seen as the most helpful non-pharmacological means of assistance, especially in the family-care context. This collection will be attractive across multiple fields as it presents practical and adaptable discussions of communicative interactions in dementia caregiving contributed by senior and junior researchers in anthropology, art therapy, counseling, gerontology, linguistics and nursing.
Davis, Boyd, Alessandra Vicentini, and Kim Grego, eds. Seniors Foreign Caregivers, Families Institutions. Linguistic and Multidisciplinary Perspectives. 2022. Milan: Mimesis International. pp. 282. Price: $ 28,99 (Paperback). https://mimesisinternational.com/seniors-foreign-caregivers-families-institutions-linguistic-and-multidisciplinary-perspectives/
The studies included in this edited volume explore discourses surrounding the ageing population, those who assist them, their families and the institutions/organisations that offer services to them. Qualitative and quantitative theoretical inputs from a variety of research domains – (socio)linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, cultural studies, cognitive science, as well as statistics and information technology – are employed to survey an array of themes that pay close attention to the linguistic, social, economic and ethical aspects regarding seniors. Different registers and genres are examined, which are produced by diverse diatopic distributions, diaphasic/diastratic variations and diamesic dimensions of the language. All this underlines the importance of integrating various strands of analysis and multidisciplinary perspectives to attend to the complexity of a changing discourse and a complex issue which are being looked at closely by the international scientific community. The book is suitable for a wide readership, including scholars and neophyte readers with an interest in discourse and cultural studies, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics.
George, Molly. Aging in a Changing World: Older New Zealanders and Contemporary Multiculturalism. 2021. New York: Rutgers University Press. pp. 192. Price: $120 (Hardcover); $29,95 (Paperback, eBook). https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/aging-in-a-changing-world/9781978809406
This is a story about aging in place in a world of global movement. Around the world, many older people have stayed still but have been profoundly impacted by the movement of others. Without migrating themselves, many older people now live in a far “different country” than the one of their memories. Recently, the Brexit vote and the 2016 election of Trump have re-enforced prevalent stereotypes of “the racist older person”. This book challenges simplified images of the old as racist, nostalgic and resistant to change by taking a deeper, more nuanced look at older people’s complex relationship with the diversity and multiculturalism that has grown and developed around them. Aging in a Changing World takes a look at how some older people in New Zealand have been responding to and interacting with the new multiculturalism they now encounter in their daily lives. Through their unhurried, micro, daily interactions with immigrants, they quietly emerge as agents of the very social change they are assumed to oppose.
Grenier, Amanda, Chris Phillipson, and Richard A. Settersten Jr., eds. Precarity and Ageing Understanding Insecurity and Risk in Later Life (Ageing in a Global Context). 2020. Bristol: Policy Press. Price: $100 (Hardcover); $33 (Paperback; e-Book). https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/precarity-and-ageing
What risks and insecurities do older people face in a time of both increased longevity and widening inequality? This edited collection develops an exciting new approach to understanding the changing cultural, economic and social circumstances facing different groups of older people. Exploring a range of topics, the chapters provide a critical review of the concept of precarity, highlighting the experiences of ageing that occur within the context of societal changes tied to declining social protection. Drawing together insights from leading voices across a range of disciplines, the book underscores the pressing need to address inequality across the life course and into later life.
Łuszczyńska, Maria. Ageing as a Social Challenge: Individual, Family and Social Aspects in Poland. 2021. Routledge publishing. pp. 376. Price: $ 162,5 (Hardcover); $ 50 (eBook) https://www.routledge.com/Ageing-as-a-Social-Challenge-Individual-Family-and-Social-Aspects-in-Poland/Luszczynska/p/book/9781032194837
With a focus on the case of Poland, where an ageing population poses a crucial challenge for the state’s social, family, and gerontological policy, this book explores ageing as a personal and social phenomenon, considering the ways in which the experience of ageing is shaped by younger generations’ attitudes, government support policies, local initiatives undertaken help older people stay active, and the ways in which the elderly themselves understand their own mortality. Employing demographic, philosophical, legal, psychological, gerontological perspectives, it emphasises activities that can support older adults locally or nationwide and proposes the development of a social policy and social attitudes that can facilitate changes in the social perception of ageing, together with a redistribution of resources for older adults. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in ageing and the lifecourse, as well as those who wish to support older adults with concrete solutions and familiarize themselves with the ageing process from an individual and social perspective.
Łuszczyńska, Maria, and Marvin Formosa, eds. Ageing and COVID-19: Making Sense of a Disrupted World. 2021. Routledge publishing. pp. 348. Price: $ 162,5 (Hardcover); Open Access (eBook). https://www.routledge.com/Ageing-and-COVID-19-Making-Sense-of-a-Disrupted-World/Luszczynska-Formosa/p/book/9781032194677
This volume presents a range of research approaches to the exploration of ageing during a pandemic situation. One of the first collections of its kind, it offers an array of studies employing research methodologies that lend themselves to replication in similar contexts by those seeking to understand the effects of epidemics on older people. Thematically organised, it shows how to reconcile qualitative and quantitative approaches, thus rendering them complementary, bringing together studies from around the world to offer an international perspective on ageing as it relates to an unprecedented epidemiological phenomenon. As such, it will appeal to researchers in the field of gerontology, as well as sociologists of medicine and clinicians seeking to understand the disruptive effects of the recent coronavirus outbreak on later life.
Sangaramoorthy, Thurka. Landscapes of Care: Immigration and Health in Rural America. 2023. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 196. Price: $99 (Hardcover); $22,95 (Paperback); Open Access (eBook) https://uncpress.org/book/9781469674179/landscapes-of-care/
This insightful work on rural health in the United States examines the ways immigrants, mainly from Latin America and the Caribbean, navigate the health care system in the United States. Since 1990, immigration to the United States has risen sharply, and rural areas have seen the highest increases. Thurka Sangaramoorthy reveals that that the corporatization of health care delivery and immigration policies are deeply connected in rural America. Drawing from fieldwork that centers on Maryland’s sparsely populated Eastern Shore, Sangaramoorthy shows how longstanding issues of precarity among rural health systems along with the exclusionary logics of immigration have mutually fashioned a “landscape of care” in which shared conditions of physical suffering and emotional anxiety among immigrants and rural residents generate powerful forms of regional vitality and social inclusion. Sangaramoorthy connects the Eastern Shore and its immigrant populations to many other places around the world that are struggling with the challenges of global migration, rural precarity, and health governance. Her extensive ethnographic and policy research shows the personal stories behind health inequity data and helps to give readers a human entry point into the enormous challenges of immigration and rural health.
Ward, Richard, and Linn J. Sandberg, eds. Critical Dementia Studies: An Introduction. 2023. New York: Routledge. pp. 312. Price: $146 (Hardcover); Open Access (PDF). https://www.routledge.com/Critical-Dementia-Studies-An-Introduction/Ward-Sandberg/p/book/9781032118802
This book puts the critical into dementia studies. It makes a timely and novel contribution to the field, offering a thought-provoking critique of current thinking and debate on dementia. Collectively the contributions gathered together in this text make a powerful case for a more politically engaged and critical treatment of dementia and the systems and structures that currently govern and frame it.
The book is inter-disciplinary and draws together leading dementia scholars alongside dementia activists from around the world. It frames dementia as first and foremost a political category. The book advances both theoretical and methodological thinking in the field as well as sharing learning from empirical research. Outlining the limits to existing efforts to frame and theorise the condition, it proposes a new critical movement for the field of dementia studies and practice.
The book will be of direct interest to researchers and scholars in the field of dementia studies and wider fields of health, disability and care. It will provide a novel resource for students and practitioners in the fields of dementia, health care and social care. The book also has implications for dementia policymaking, commissioning and community development.
Willis, Paul, Ilkka Pietilä, and Marjaana Seppänen, eds. Ageing, Men and Social Relations: New Perspectives on Masculinities and Men's Social Connections in Later Life. (forthcoming) March 2024. pp. 248. Price: $103 (Hardcover); $34 (Paperback; eBook) https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/ageing-men-and-social-relations
While there has been a gradual increase in scholarship on men, ageing and masculinities, little attention has been paid to the social relations of men in later life and the implications for enhancing their social wellbeing and counteracting ageist discourse. Bringing together scholars in social gerontology and the social sciences from across Global North and South nations, this collection fills the gaps in key texts by foregrounding older men’s experiences. It provides new perspectives across the intersections of old age, ethnicities, class and sexual and gender identity, paying particular attention to older men from seldom heard or marginalised groups.
Ylläne, Virpi, ed. Ageing and the Media: International Perspectives. (forthcoming) February 2024. Bristol: Policy Press. pp. 232. Price: $103 (Hardcover); $33 (Paperback; eBook) https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/ageing-and-the-media
Media representations of ageing play a role in stereotype formation and even reinforce them. Encountering these stereotypes can negatively impact the self-esteem, health status, physical wellbeing and cognitive performance of older people. This international collection examines different dimensions of ageing and ageism in a range of media. Chapters include explorations of the UK media during the COVID-19 pandemic; age, gender and mental health in Ghana; advertising in Brazil; magazines in Canada; Taiwanese newspapers; comics, graphic novels and more. Bringing together leading scholars, this book critically considers differences in media portrayals and how older adults use and interact with the media.
MULTIMODAL WORKS FOR REVIEW
Pino, Angélica Cabezas. This Is My Face (Esta Es Mi Cara): What Lies Inside a Journey with HIV. 2018. Cerebro Films. https://www.ethnocineca.at/en/esta-es-mi-cara/
In Chile, people who live with HIV fear stigma and exclusion, and often conceal their condition and remain silent about what they are and have been going through. Esta es mi Cara – This is My Face explores what happens when a group of men living with the virus open up about the chronic disease that changed their life trajectories. The film follows a creative process whereby the protagonists produce photographic portraits that represent their (often painful) memories and feelings, a process that helps them challenge years of silence, shame, and misrepresentations. A lesson in the power of collaborative storytelling.
Sojob, María. Tote Abuelo. 2019. Terra Nostra Films/ Foprocine Imcine. http://www.totedocumental.com/en/
In her deeply personal debut documentary feature, Tzotzil filmmaker María Sojob documents the unexpected encounter between an old man, who is going blind, and his granddaughter, who has a limited memory of her childhood. As the grandfather weaves a traditional hat, the threads of family history are untangled. Between the silences, it becomes possible to understand the meaning of love in Tzotzil. A deceptively simple film, Tote/Abuelo/Grandfather is a complex portrait that contrasts the point of view of a younger generation with a traditional world that was largely marginalized.
