Editorial work for this collection was based on a few, but essential, premises. To deal with the ageing phenomenon it is important to be aware of present and future demographic changes and shifts. It is also necessary to make visible and comprehensible the social consequences of these processes for individuals and social settings. Moreover, it is imperative to discuss critically the manifestations and developments of ageing in their effects for whole societies as well as for the programmes and policy options of welfare states responding to this new challenge. In this book the whole Mediterranean region was chosen as the central unit of research. It has therefore also been indispensable to become aware of long-lasting traditions and cultural traits whose possible impact on the ageing phenomenon must be discussed and evaluated.

With such a programme, formulating central conclusions is complicated, for several reasons. First, often non-harmonised theoretical and disciplinary approaches about the ageing dynamic of the Mediterranean make it difficult, as well as the social heterogeneity in this whole Mediterranean region being its dominant characteristic. Balancing out the weight of differences and complexity against the strengths of similarities requires careful assessment of the evidence about the social effects of ageing in all of the Mediterranean countries.

Altogether, five main fields for discussion emerged as essential to stimulate further reflections and dispute: first, a discussion about methodological implications regarding the development of appropriate concepts, of establishing instruments and indicators for a comparative framework; second, becoming aware of the given ambivalences regarding the concept of culture for an analysis of this region; third, discussing again the crucial position of the family in this region and pointing in particular at the ongoing changes and reforms for the care of older people there; fourth, recalling some sociological approaches to life course analysis and discussing and using their explanatory power for the comparison work; and finally, evaluating the ongoing policy strategies and patterns of governance in respect to ageing in this region, and taking into consideration support from the European institutions.

Options for the methodology

First, we look at some methodological and theoretical ideas and consequences aimed at suggesting new research perspectives. It was mentioned in the introduction to this volume that there are today several data-enriched alternatives to analyse countries from the Mediterranean region in a comparative way, for example, the model of MENA (Middle East North Africa) countries (or other similar options).