Key Issues in Identity : A critical exploration of the double denial of old identity

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Gerontology, grade: 76 %, University of Hull (Social Sciences), course: Identity Politics, language: English, abstract: This essay will focus on changing representations and new identities of third agers in the context of British social policy. Recently, the perception and representation of later life have undergone important changes. Issues around age and oldness are characterized by asynchronities, ambiguities and contradictions. Thus, on a scale of extremes, we can observe a paradigmatic shift to frame the later life as Golden Age, characterized by incentives for participation and inclusion that coexists with a widespread social ignorance of the old, perpetuating the deeply rooted disgust against the frailness of the Dark Age. The so called 'old' are in the cross-fire of cultural debates, welfare policies and consumption strategies. Their growing demographic and political pressure continues to force authorities of public life to deal with the question who they - 'the old' - actually are. A 'creative amalgamation' (Holstein&Minkler, in Bernard&Scharf, 2007:24) of knowledge and experience is needed in order to understand and take abreast of new meanings and identities in later life.