An Appetizer
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CENTRE FOR
AGEING AND THE LIFE COURSE
Outlines for a humanistic and social scientific basis and sketches for research projects
Karen Pallesgaard Munk, Keld Thorgård, Karin Christiansen, Marie Konge Nielsen
& Morten Raffnsøe-Møller
Centre for Health, Humanity and Culture
Department of Culture and Society
Faculty of Arts
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INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CENTRE FOR
AGEING AND THE LIFE COURSE
Outlines for a humanistic and social scientific basis and sketches for research projects
An Appetizer
Karen Pallesgaard Munk, Keld Thorgård, Karin Christiansen, Marie Konge Nielsen
& Morten Raffnsøe-Møller
Abstract/Summary
Ageing as a national research-agenda in DK has primarily been set from the biological and medical
sciences. This proposal for an Interdisciplinary research centre for ageing and the life course argues that ‘The ageing
society’ is a pervasive social, cultural, political, economical and biological phenomenon, and, hence, that it
should be the object of a much broader research agenda than has hitherto been the case. Furthermore,
such a centre, understanding ageing in its historical, social and cultural context and complexity, would be
setting a whole new national research agenda for the field of ageing and life course analysis. With a centre
of gravity in the human and social science it would be able and called to initiate cross-disciplinary research
with the life sciences, the technical and natural sciences with the aim of understanding the implications,
challenges and possibilities of the ageing society in the full.
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With this paper we (more or less experienced ageing researchers) want to invite researcher with interest in
the ageing society from the faculties of Arts and School of Business and Social Sciences to join us in a
network for the humanities and social sciences. Experience with ageing research is not at all needed.
Introduction
We want to argue that an interdisciplinary research centre on ageing and the life course at
Aarhus University should have the humanities and the social sciences as its primary
scientific basis. Since the Institute of Gerontology in Copenhagen, run and owned by
The Danish Gerontological Society, was closed some years ago, Denmark no longer has
pervasive ageing research in the humanities and the social sciences. Currently the
dominant research centres at Copenhagen University and The University of Southern
Denmark are both situated at the faculties of health with research focusing on and
related to healthy ageing and functional and clinical concerns regarding old age, by the
American philosopher Harry Moody called ‘instrumental’ ageing research (1988).
However important that is, it will not capture the depth, the richness and the challenging
societal consequences of the historic demographic transition Denmark will be going
through in the years to come. This does not mean that we want to exclude other kinds
of disciplines. Actually we find that a centre should be a meeting place for everybody
doing ageing research at Aarhus University, but the primary scientific basis should be the
humanities and the social sciences, because it fills a gap in the national research on
ageing.
Background: towards a double ageing society
Ageing societies is a historically new phenomenon, and it is global (Jeune & Kirk, 2006).
An ageing society is - generally spoken - a combination of increasing longevity and a
decreasing number of births. Even though there are some disagreements about how to
define an ageing society, and what the consequences will be, there is a worldwide
agreement that during this century the composition of the world population will end up
in still more old adults and still fewer children and adolescents (ibid.). The compositional
patterns, however, are different throughout the world. They are contingent upon – not
only the differences in the numbers of deaths - but also upon the frequency of births. A
Danish report to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Development from 2006 (ed.
Petersen) estimates that the distribution of persons beyond 20 years and above 65 years
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in 2040 will be about a 100.000 fewer 20– year olds and about 420.000 more 65+ year
olds than today. Out of a population of about 5 million people this is a considerable
demographic imbalance. Furthermore it is estimated that the number of old-olds will
increase. This means that the 80+ year olds in 2030 will comprise one third of the older
adults population compared to one fourth today, because the death rate of older adults
has been continually decreasing with 2-3 % a year since 1950. It is expected that half of
the female population born today in rich societies will live until they are over a 100 years
(Vaupel, 2010). This is called the double ageing phenomenon (Jeune & Kirk, 2006): Not
only will we see much more young older adults, but also more old-olds.
According to Jeune and Kirk (2006) the attitudes towards this development have
mostly been pessimistic and negative seeing only older adults as a burden to society
because of still more people being situated outside the labour market, and at the same
time seeing an increasing number being in need of personal care and medical treatment.
It is, however, a complex issue to theoretizise and anticipate the course of future
developments. On the one hand we see a growth of strong, healthy older adults with
many resources, and most evidence also suggests that despite an increase in chronic
diseases and conditions for people aged younger than 85 years, there is a tendency to
postponement of limitations and disabilities (Christensen, Jeune, Andersen-Ranberg &
Vaupel, 2013). On the other hand we also see a decreasing death rate among the
minority of older adults with chronic diseases and reduced ability to function thus
demanding more care (i.e. the increasing number of older adults suffering from
dementia) (Jeune & Kirk, 2006).
A hypothetical future scenario could be that the healthy older adults will become
still less demanding of health expenses. Or perhaps medical demands will come to relate
to different ways to socio-economic stratification in society thanks to the accessibility
and use of new technology. According to Watts (1996 [2006]) a threat to health costs in
the future comes from the rich and strong, because still new medical technology
supports a wish to live longer and healthier – on the costs of the poor and disabled.
Never in our history have the prospects for a long and healthy life been better. In spite
of this fact we now face a paradox: According to the late professor of the Social History
of Medicine, Roy Porter (2006), we are witnessing greater demands from the population
to the health system than ever (p. 9). This underscores the potential of exploding health’s
costs.
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In our opinion, however, it is important to realise that the development towards
the ageing society has been going on for 200-300 years - long before the kind of medical
service known today was established (Petersen, 2006). During the many years of this
development medicine has not played any role. It is only in the second half of the 20.
Century, modern medicine begins to influence longevity, especially among the old-olds
and their falling death rate of 2-3 % a year. This fact demonstrates that the extension of
the life length and the improvement of health has been and is still primarily established
and maintained outside the health institutions and above all primarily contingent upon
the living conditions of a population. This shows how important it is to study ageing
and the life course in its interplay with societal contingencies and changes. It is, of
course, also of relevance to study how the urge for better health and longevity influences
the politics of health and its priorities.
The question of the ageing of society is not only a question of the ageing of
individuals, ageing processes and living conditions of older adults as well as challenges
for the health sector. It is also a question of how the demographic transition changes the
society in terms of cultural and social facets and how a traditional, rather one-sided and
negative view of ageing is – or should be – changed. Dominant research questions would
be where and how the changed demography or the ‘new seniors’ will be visible in society
apart from nursing homes and hospitals: i.e. on the labour market, in politics, in cultural
institutions, in the media, in the family, in all kinds of arts. Furthermore it is a question
of how society ensures intergenerational solidarity as well as lifelong learning and
participation for all age groups.
Ageing as a culturally and socially embedded process
As shown by this minor overview of the demographic development there are many
unknown factors involved in the evolving ‘Ageing Society’. Obviously there seems to be
no universal way of ageing. Ageing is of course a biological fact and as such universal,
but at the same time human beings are also participants in the shaping of their own
reality and future on various levels: collective and personal (Katz, 2009; Munk, 2013).
This means that the ageing processes cannot and should not be studied without
understanding the cultural and historical context, which produces still new and
unexpected versions of what is constitutive of older adults’ lives and ageing processes. It
is the individual life course embedded in social, cultural and historical conditions which
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produces the profile of an ageing population and the ageing person (Baltes, Reese &
Lippsitt, 1980).
One of the lessons learnt from the multiple international longitudinal population
studies during the 20. century is that ‘behavioural change can only be understood (and
predicted for that matter) by examining behavioural change in the context of societal
change.’ (Schae, 2000, p. 257). According to the founding father of an advanced
methodology of longitudinal population studies, ‘the longitudinal, cross-cohort
methodology’, the American professor of Human Development and Psychology, K.
Warner Schae, the age-variable has been through a conceptual shift in ‘treating age as the
dependent rather than the independent variable.’(2000, p. 258). Put in another way:
Biological ageing is highly dependent on the cultural and social conditions of life, and
this means that a changing society will always ‘produce’ new kinds of older adults. There
is a huge difference, for example, between the generations born before the First World
War and the establishment of the welfare state and the generations born just after the
Second World War enjoying in general all the privileges of the growing welfare and
wealth through their upbringing and adult years (Munk, 1999). In late modern societies
there is a tendency among the new ageing ‘after-war’ middle class generations to try to
‘end temporality’ so to speak. The attempts to ‘arrest time’ are numerous, from changed
life styles, plastic surgery, hair dyeing, and so on. An ideal in certain groups seem to be to
stay young ‘for ever’ being relatively detached from the obligations of work and
dependant family members (i. e. children) and enjoying the benefits from economic
freedom (Katz, 2009).
The activities performed by modern older adults will affect our society in a broad
sense: Consumption patterns, labour market, cultural life, leisure activities and NGOassociations as well as families, which today often consist of three or four generations,
and this is historically quite a new situation. In general older adults are quite active in our
society. According to Center for Frivilligt Socialt Arbejde 33% of people 56-75 years of
age and 27% of people 66-75 years of age thus perform voluntary work, and the number
is increasing (Boje et al., 2006). Besides, older adults also perform informal care and
hence they are an important resource for families and society (Mandag Morgen og
Ældresagen, 2011).
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The scientific basis of the centre
The study of ageing is fundamentally the study of change. Change is related to time.
Time and change are twin concepts in this field. The forces behind changes are complex:
biologic, social, political/systemic and individual thus implying an interdisciplinary
approach to the field. The consequence also is that the ‘senior’ group is highly
heterogeneous in opposition to the stereotypical picture of old age (Kirk, 1994;
Christensen, 1999; Mehlsen, 2011). At a societal level one could also describe a society
as a changing social system with changing generational cohorts passing through. This
means that you can never leave out history and the historical context when studying
ageing and old age.
We underscore this fact – not because it has to imply certain methodologies in
studying ageing - but because it must be considered fundamental for all kinds of studies
of the ageing process and ageing persons (Munk, 2013). Logically this means that the
study of ageing also should be a study of the life course, because the end-of-life-stage
rests heavily on how the trajectory of life has previously been envisioned and enlived.
An increasing part of gerontological research is occupied with the whole life course and
its consequences for ageing (Schae, 2000).
Core themes of a humanistic/societal research frame
The following sketches for research projects are primarily examples of the numerous
possibilities for interesting, relevant and necessary ageing research on the late modern
ageing society. There are also possibilities for action research projects in collaboration
with the public administrations outside the university. Currently we find the following
themes to address important issues for the individual and the society:
Lifelong learning:

Lifelong learning as a question of learning throughout life as well a question of
learning when one becomes very old (later life learning). How can the university
develop new studies and new ways of studying for seniors?

A holistic understanding of motivation and learning in later life: social, existential,
psychological, cultural and biological aspects of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
and learning in late adulthood.
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
Wisdom as a phenomenon connected to mature, post-formal thinking in later life.
Cultural dynamics and ageing

The late modern ageing cultures: The new seniors trying to end temporality and live
like ‘snowbirds’ following the seasons being at the most favourable places in
order to improve their quality of life: The resourceful elderly nowadays meet the
period after work life with a new concept of liberty. The typical obstacles in life
such as health problems, shortage of money, work and family obligations with
small children seem to be absent to large groups of lower and middle middle
class seniors and offer new opportunities of a life style earlier reserved to the
higher middle class: travelling to interesting places, playing golf, buying expensive
clothes, cruising etc. It seems without any doubt that the late modern middle
class elderly are very important to the new experiential economy of the current
society.

Being old and belonging to an ethnic minority in the late modern society: coping with
conflicts between different ideas of ageing.

The cultural images of ageing in the media and the popular culture: Which pictures of
ageing are produced and circulated in popular culture like movies, magazines and
TV-commercials? Do we see stereotypification, pluralisation and development in
the media?

Ageing and literature: how is the experience of late modern ageing mirrored in
current literature?

Producers and consumers of the ageing experience economy: The ageing society produces
profound changes in our economy, being the fastest growing consumer group.
Which changes does this provoke in the experience economy? What changes in
consumption and production patterns does this provoke? And does it also
establish a new group of producers?

Medical enhancement and the taming of time.
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
Living spaces and old age: how can architecture and city planners meet the challenges
of more frail people wanting autonomy and participation to the very end?
Social and existential challenges and possibilities in late adulthood:

Biographic perspective on active citizenship, self-determination and autonomy in late
adulthood.

Being (also very) old in the late modern society. Establishing identity, new relations and
social network in late adulthood including potentials using new technology as e.g.
Skype and other platforms.

Existential meaning in late adulthood, handling changes in positions, power, sexual
and marital status.

“The good life” in late adulthood: do the agendas of the individual change with high
age? Is it still important to stay young ‘for ever’ or does one just want to be old
and disengaged? How can society support ‘the good life’ in late adulthood even
if it contrasts middle class ideas of the importance of agency and autonomy?

Intergenerational justice. Solidarity between generations is an important element in
modern welfare states. Will this solidarity be challenged in an ageing society?

Old, frail and poor in a competitive society; a philosophical analysis of the values of
current Danish society related to treatment and care of the frail and especially the
poor elderly. Poverty among old and frail people will be an increasing
phenomenon in the late modern society especially among immigrants because
they will only have access to a retirement pension related to the relative length of
time they have lived in Denmark.
In general most older adults are not afraid of dying, but they have a
pronounced fear of the period before: how much suffering in being helpless,
without autonomy, and being a burden to everybody are they going to experience
before passing away (Munk, 1999)? During the flowering period of the welfare
state Denmark had been able to take care of the frail and poor elderly at an
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ethically acceptable level. From a historical point of view this is an exception as
to the poor elderly. The question is, whether the society will maintain the values
from the times of the welfare state in caretaking, or if it will only be the elderly
with good pensions and fortunes who will be able to look forward to proper
(paid for) care in their last days (Pedersen, 2012)?
 ‘The past in the present’: it is widely accepted by historians and theories of history
use that current political discourses are to a large degree drawing wrong or quite
generalising arguments from history in order to sustain an actual political end.
The question is how the political discourses will turn out with the still more
sparse public resources available to take care of the frail elderly? Who had the
moral duty to take care - and who did so in the Danish past? A comparative
analysis of the history of the caretaking of the elderly and the present political
discourses.
 Ethics, age and health care rationing. The increasing costs in the health care area lead
to difficult questions about the allocation of scarce resources based on age.
Intergenerational activities:

Older adults’ impulses of ‘generativity’ manifested e.g. in a ‘teaching passion’ (Erikson
1972) or other activities directed towards younger generations.

Intergenerational learning and mentorship: Because of the historically new longevity
families and society comprise more generations than ever seen before. The oldolds are ‘surviving’ witnesses from past times such as important historical periods
like the Second World War and the Great Depression of the 1930’ies. The
differences among the generations as to material living conditions, different levels
of education and probably different ideologies will probably have consequences
for intergenerational learning and understanding. The question is how this is
used and not used in society and in the families?

Older adults as volunteers: Societal and individual, subjective importance of informal
care and voluntary work performed by older people.
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Talent development:
It is our general experience that it is difficult to mobilize interest in gerontology in spite
of its importance to society. If a research centre should continually produce high quality,
relevant and interesting knowledge about ageing and the life course, it is vital to develop
strong identities as gerontologists among the researchers at the centre. This is constituted
by several factors: gifted researchers from the outset, interesting and engaging projects,
general teaching in gerontology, integration in the Danish and international, especially
European, gerontological research society, a stimulating and recognising environment
and lastly enough resources. It is important that a centre is building up continuity in its
research and identity as a research centre.
Knowledge exchange
It is expected that the centre will continually produce knowledge highly relevant to
Danish society. It is an obligation to the centre to establish fundamental knowledge
related to late modern ageing and to participate with counselling and knowledge
dissemination related to challenges in the ageing society. The centre will establish a
formal and systematic knowledge exchange with other gerontological research groups
outside the university, at a national and international level, and additionally with Danish
society in general.
Education
It should be a core activity of the centre to offer courses in gerontology at different
educational levels and to different disciplines at AU and outside AU, to relevant
professional groups, and also to the elderly themselves. It is our experience that we find
the most attentive and interested audience to be in the elderly population when it comes
to questions about old age. However, one of the aims of this study is to raise awareness
of the importance of ageing and the life course for all members of society.
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