Abstract
In Social Divisions and Later Life: Difference, Diversity and Inequality, Chris Gilleard and Paul Higgs provide a broad, but succinct overview of theoretical understanding and contemporary issues related to how the field of gerontology conceptualizes divisions among older adults. Importantly, the focus is on “divisions,” not solely on disparities or inequities. Rather, Gilleard and Higgs underscore the importance of context in the degree to which difference is akin to unjust inequality rather than simply an expression of the diversity of human experiences. In doing so, Gilleard and Higgs do an impressive job of providing both historical and current lenses on these issues, as well as international comparisons, especially between Western Europe and North America.
The overall premise of the book is that, as life expectancy has increased around the globe, and living to older ages has become commonplace, later life itself has become more heterogeneous. Rather than a clear delineation between older adults and their younger counterparts, the more important differences to understand in relation to later life are now those that emerge between older adults, as opposed to those that emerge by age. Gilleard and Higgs (2020) summarize this concept this way: “Less a source than a site of division, later life has become a series of social locations where many of the social divisions of earlier in life are rearranged, redefined and recalibrated . . .” (p. 158). In addition to introductory and concluding paragraphs providing overviews of theoretical conceptions of social divisions and differences in later life, the book is organized into five substantive sections, each dealing with a different type of social division: social class, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and intersectionality. Altogether, this relatively brief book provides an impressively comprehensive view of the main theoretical and substantive debates for each of these issues.
In their chapter on social class and inequality in later life, the authors describe foundational work from theorists like Marx, Weber, and Bourdieu on social class, as well as more contemporary theories of understanding class in later life. Those include cumulative (dis)advantage and cumulative inequality theories, in which earlier life experiences and opportunities lay the groundwork for later life access to resources and good health. Gilleard and Higgs also take up the gradational versus relational debate about how best to measure social class and the debate between “age-as-leveler” versus “age-as-accelerator” for diminishing versus widening inequities in later life. They describe potential advantages and shortcomings of each of these philosophical approaches, but stop short of providing one conclusive answer for how to address questions of resource allocation among older adults, instead stressing the importance of methodological and theoretical rigor for whatever research question is posed.
Next, in their chapter on gender in later life, Gilleard and Higgs discuss differences between men and women in later life, as well as gender differences earlier in life (especially in occupational opportunities and experiences) that may lead to divisions in older age. Through this lens, they also discuss divisions related to marital, family, and household structure and engagement in unpaid household labor. This chapter makes clear the point that neither men nor women are unilaterally advantaged in later life; rather, historically men have had greater economic advantages, whereas women have had greater social capital. The authors summarize this mixed picture saying, “gender contributes to later life’s inequalities and injustices, but it also and equally adds to its complexity, richness and diversity” (p. 66). Worth noting, the chapter focuses almost entirely on a binary construction of gender (men and women) and primarily on heterosexual relationships, leaving room for additional work on divisions by a broader array of gender identity and sexual orientation in later life.
The next chapter discusses divisions, differences, and inequities by race, ethnicity, and migration status among older adults. In doing so, Gilleard and Higgs emphasize the importance of context in how each of these identities impacts outcomes in later life. In particular, they compare differences by race and ethnicity in North America with differences by migration status in Western Europe, noting that the contextually driven nature of individual experience leads to heterogeneity in sources of advantage and disadvantage, as well as to inconsistency in data and measurement. Beyond place-based context, they note that “ideas of ethnicity are subject to the flux of historical and personal time” (p. 91). While the authors note that marginalized identities by race, ethnicity, and migration status are associated with inequities in resource allocation and various forms of capital, the focus remains largely on individual differences rather than on structural, systemic, and institutional racism. These are urgently important topics. This book provides a useful overview of key topics in this area, as well as international comparisons, but additional research should continue to explore the impact of the social construction of race and the deleterious impacts of racism and xenophobia on health and well-being among older adults.
In their discussion of the impact of disability on divisions in later life, Gilleard and Higgs wrestle with the differences between “aging into” versus “aging with” disability, as well as with the meaning of the body itself in later life. In the former, the authors note philosophical differences that have created some divisions between disability activists and scholars and the gerontology community. In the latter, the authors discuss the changing nature of corporality over time as new technologies are developed to allow older adults to live more independently even in the face of functional limitations. Yet, the authors make important points about the potential for inequities in access to such technology and associated exacerbation of social divisions across multiple spheres (e.g., “social, cultural, economic, medical and technological,” p. 121).
Finally, Gilleard and Higgs revisit each of the aforementioned sites of division to discuss the myriad ways in which they can—and do—intersect. In doing so, they stress that no one source of identity should be presumed to determine an older adult’s position. Instead, later life is a source of multiple identities, leading to advantages in some areas and disadvantages in others, all of which is contextually dependent. Put another way, the authors state that “the factors enriching or impoverishing later life are not simply reducible to any one ordering” (p. 138). The authors warn researchers away from any forms of reductionism in their work and encourage them to take up topics of social division in later life with an appreciation of the nuance and complexity involved.
Overall, Social Divisions and Later Life covers an impressive breadth of critical issues in gerontological research within its relatively brief 216 pages. Gilleard and Higgs provide an overview of historical and theoretical perspectives on many of the sources of differences and disparities among older adults, as well as thoughtful discussion on how those sources intersect. Perhaps most useful, however, are the international comparisons that the authors include, especially between how these issues are approached in North America versus in Western Europe. Going forward, it would be helpful to explore social divisions in later life in other international contexts in more detail as well. Researchers and students alike may find this book a useful starting point for spurring additional work on the wide diversity of experiences in later life.