Loneliness in Later Life as Existential Inequality

Abstract

This article engages Göran Therborn’s conceptualisation of existential inequality to explore lived experiences of loneliness in later life. Existential inequality refers to unequal social distribution of personhood, from dignity to autonomy. We argue sociological approaches, like inequality frameworks, are critical to grasp the social nature of loneliness – often missing in related literature. Investigating how people perceive and respond to their loneliness provides a comprehensive understanding of the links between personal/agentic and social/structural dimensions. We apply the idea of existential inequality to two case studies with older people (aged 65+) reporting prolonged loneliness: one encompassing ethnographic data and interviews with care home residents, and a second focusing on diaries produced by older people living alone. Employing existential inequality to frame how older people define, experience and manage loneliness highlights an assemblage of stigmas and marginalisation.