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The Absent Body – A Social Gerontological Paradox

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2018

Peter Öberg
Peter Öberg*
Affiliation:
Dept of Sociology, Uppsala University, Box 821, S-751 08 Uppsala, Sweden
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Abstract

This contribution, which is mainly theoretical, focuses on the paradox that, to a considerable extent, the body has been absent from social gerontology, despite the fact that in our culture, ageing is presented both in terms of surface and body and is experienced via the body. This paradox is brought into the open and clarified using as a starting point the ontological dualism of the Platonic-Christian tradition in which body and soul are seen as hierarchical opposites. The article shows how this dualism penetrates society and science and is carried on into the construction of gerontological concepts and theories, e.g. the ‘ageless self’ concept. The article also illustrates what consequences this dualism has for the everyday understanding of ageing based on biographical interviews with elderly Finnish people.

Keywords

Absent bodybodydualismageless selfpersonal and social identity

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 16 , Issue 6: Special Issue: Ageing, Biography and Practice , November 1996 , pp. 701 - 719
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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