Ageing and Later Life: Unsettling Development Assumptions

Abstract

This Special Issue brings into focus the topic of ageing and of older people, both of which have been neglected and/or narrowly addressed in development studies and policymaking. As such, this collection of articles seeks to unsettle some of the stereotypes that are commonplace in development debates that portray older people as frail, vulnerable, burdensome and passive. It does so by looking at the process of ageing and the lived experiences of older people across a range of topics and geographical locations. We hope that through this collection we have initiated a conversation around the place of ageing and older people in development from a relational and intergenerational perspective; that is, from a perspective that is focused around interdependence between older people and wider society rather than one restricted to the dependence of the former on the latter.