Focuses on the variety of ways in which age and ageing are socially constructed, and the extent to which growing old is being transformed through processes associated with globalisation. This book provides the basis for a modern type of critical gerontology relevant to the twenty-first century.

Dedication
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
1. Introduction: Critical Perspectives in Social Gerontology Jan Baars, Dale Dannefer, Chris Phillipson, and Alan Walker
SECTION 1: DIMENSIONS OF CRITICAL GERONTOLOGY
2. Beyond Neomodernism, Antimodernism, and Postmodernism: Basic Categories for Contemporary Critical Gerontology Jan Baars
3. Aging and Globalization: Issues for Critical Gerontology and Political Economy Chris Phillipson
4. Reexamining the Political Economy of Aging: Understanding the Structure/Agency Tension Alan Walker
5. Critical Feminist Perspectives, Aging, and Social Policy Carroll Estes
6. Reciprocal Co-Optation: The Relationship of Critical Theory and Social Gerontology Dale Dannefer
SECTION 2: CRITICAL DIMENSIONS OF MEDICALIZATION: AGING AND HEALTH AS CULTURAL PRODUCTS
7. From Chronology to Functionality: Critical Reflections on the Gerontology of the Body Stephen Katz
8. Empowering the Old: Critical Gerontology and Anti-Aging in a Global Context Neil King and Toni Calasanti
9. Dementia in the Iron Cage: The Biopsychiatric Construction of Alzheimer's Dementia Kathryn Douthit
SECTION 3: AGE AND INEQUALITY: LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND GLOBAL DYNAMICS
10. The Emerging Postmodern Culture of Aging and Retirement Security Larry Polivka and Charles F. Longino, Jr.
11. Dynamics of Late-Life Inequality: Modeling the Interplay of Health Disparities, Economic Resources, and Public Policies Stephen Crystal
12. Health, Aging, and America's Poor: Ethnographic Insights on Family Co-morbidity and Cumulative Disadvantage Linda M. Burton and Keith E. Whitfield
13. Culture, Migration, Inequality, and "Periphery" in a Globalized World: Challenges for Ethno- and Anthropogerontology Sandra Torres
14. Globalization and Critical Theory: Political Economy of World Population Issues John A. Vincent
Meet the Contributors
Index

Jan Baars, Dale Dannefer, Chris Phillipson, Alan Walker