Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T15:41:20.171Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Communities of place and communities of interest? An exploration of their changing role in later life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2011

ROBIN MEANS  and
SIMON EVANS
ROBIN MEANS*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
SIMON EVANS
Affiliation:
University of Worcester, Worcester, UK.
*
Addresss for correspondence: Robin Means, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Glenside Campus, Blackberry Hill, Stapleton, Bristol BS16 1DD. E-mail: Robin.Means@uwe.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Social gerontologists have long grappled with the meaning of ‘community’ to older people. This paper lies within this tradition and focuses on the extent to which the past emphasis upon communities of place needs to be rebalanced or rethought in the light of emerging evidence for the growing engagement of older people in communities of interest linked to friendships, enthusiasms and their increasing spending power. This theoretical paper highlights the traditional emphasis on the role of community and place in later life and explores the emergence of a debate about communities of interest linked to such factors as the ‘discovery’ of ‘the Third Age’, marketisation, consumerism, the importance of social interaction in the lives of many older people, and the impact of the internet and virtual communities. This debate is placed in an international policy context in which numerous governments are concerned about the greying of the global population and the consequent desire to promote ‘ageing well’ to offset resultant health and social care costs. The paper argues for a reconceptualisation of community through a more sophisticated view of ‘place’ and ‘interest’ that avoids false dichotomies between the two and acknowledges the impact of social, economic and cultural change upon the lives of older people.

Keywords

communityplaceinterestslater life
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 32 , Issue 8 , November 2012 , pp. 1300 - 1318
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bauman, Z. 2001. Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Bernard, M., Liddle, J., Bartlam, B., Scharf, T. and Sim, J. 2011. Then and now: evolving community in the context of a retirement village. Ageing & Society. Available online at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=ASO&tab=firstview [Accessed 14 July 2001].Google Scholar
Bloom, D., Canning, D. and Fink, G. 2010. The greying of the global population and its macroeconomic consequences. 21st Century, 5, 233–42.Google Scholar
Choi, N. and Chou, R. 2010. Time and money volunteering among older adults: the relationship between past and current volunteering and correlates of change and stability. Ageing & Society, 30, 559–81.Google Scholar
Clough, R., Leamy, M., Miller, V. and Bright, L. 2004. Housing Decisions in Later Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK.Google Scholar
Crow, G. and Allan, G. 1994. Community Life: An Introduction to Local Social Relations. Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, UK.Google Scholar
Curry, N. 2010. Differentiating trust and rural decision-making, drawing on an English case study. Sociologic Ruralis, 50, 2, 121–138.Google Scholar
Dar, K. 2006. Alcohol use disorders in elderly people: fact or fiction? Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 12, 173–81.Google Scholar
Deeming, C. 2009. ‘Active ageing’ in practice: a case study in East London, UK. Policy and Politics, 37, 1, 93–111.Google Scholar
Department for Communities and Local Government 2008. Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods: A National Strategy for Housing an Ageing Society. The Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Department of Health 2010. A Vision for Adult Social Care: Capable Communities and Active Citizens. Department of Health, London.Google Scholar
Despres, C. 1991. The meaning of home: literature review and directions for future research and theoretical development. Journal of Architecture and Planning Research, 8, 2, 96–115.Google Scholar
Dobbs, B. and Strain, R. 2008. Staying connected: issues of mobility of older rural adults. In Keating, R. (ed.), Rural Ageing: A Good Place to Grow Old? Policy Press, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Durkheim, E. 1964. The Rules of the Sociological Method. The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Estes, C. L., Biggs, S. and Phillipson, C. 2003. Social Theory, Social Policy and Ageing. Open University Press, Maidenhead, UK.Google Scholar
Evans, S. 2009. Community and Ageing: Maintaining Quality of Life in Housing with Care Settings. The Policy Press, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Evans, S. and Means, R. 2007. Balanced Retirement Communities? A Case Study of Westbury Fields. University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Facebook 2011. Usage Statistics. Available online at www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics [Accessed 12 July 2011].Google Scholar
Fine, B. 2010. Theories of Social Capital: Researchers Behaving Badly. Pluto Press, London.Google Scholar
Fried, M. 2000. Continuities and discontinuities of place. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 20, 3, 193–205.Google Scholar
Giddens, A. 1991. Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Gilleard, C. and Higgs, P. 2000. Cultures of Ageing: Self, Citizen and the Body. Prentice Hall, Harlow, UK.Google Scholar
Gilleard, C. and Higgs, P. 2005. Contexts of Ageing: Class, Cohort and Community. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Giuliani, M. V. and Feldman, R. 1993. Place attachment in a developmental and cultural context. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13, 3, 267–74.Google Scholar
Gottlieb, B. H. and Gillespie, A. A. 2008. Volunteerism, health, and civic engagement among older adults. Canadian Journal on Aging, 27, 4, 399–406.Google Scholar
Gullette, M. M. 2011. Agewise: Fighting the New Ageism in America. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Harasim, L. H. 1993. Networlds: Networks as Social Space. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Hargreaves, A. 2004. Building communities of place: habitual movement around significant places. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 19, 1, 49–65.Google Scholar
Heywood, F., Oldman, C. and Means, R. 2002. Housing and Home in Later Life. Open University Press, Buckingham, UK.Google Scholar
HM Government 2009. Building a Society for All Ages. The Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
HM Government 2010. Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our Strategy for Public Health in England. The Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Jorgensen, B. S. and Stedman, R. C. 2001. Sense of place as an attitude: Lakeshore owners’ attitudes towards their properties. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21, 3, 233–48.Google Scholar
Kasarda, J. D. and Janowitz, M. 1974. Community attachment in mass society. American Sociological Review, 39, 3, 328–39.Google Scholar
Kaskie, B., Imhof, S., Cavanaugh, J. and Culp, K. 2008. Civic engagement as a retirement role for aging Americans. The Gerontologist, 48, 3, 368–77.Google Scholar
Laslett, P. 1989. A Fresh Map of Life. Weidenfield and Nicholson, London.Google Scholar
Lee, D. and Newby, H. 1983. The Problem of Sociology: an introduction to the discipline. Unwin Hyman, London.Google Scholar
Litwin, H. and Schiovitz-Ezra, S. 2006. The association between activity and wellbeing in later life: what really matters? Ageing & Society, 26, 2, 225–42.Google Scholar
Marsh, P. 2006. The Halifax neighbours survey. In Pilch, T. (ed.), Neighbourliness. The Smith Institute, London, 38–43.Google Scholar
Menec, V. H., Means, R., Keating, N., Parkhurst, G. and Eales, J. 2011. Conceptualising age-friendly communities. Canadian Journal of Aging. Available online at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?iid=7615036 [Accessed 12 July 2011].Google Scholar
Midwinter, E. 1984. Mutual Aid Universities: A Self Help Approach to Educating Older People. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Moseley, M. and Pahl, R. E. 2007. Social Capital in Rural Places. Report to DEFRA, June, Rural Evidence Research Centre, Birkbeck College, University of London, London.Google Scholar
Nash, V. and Christie, I. 2003. Making Sense of Community. Institute for Public Policy Research, London.Google Scholar
Norman, J. 2010. The Big Society: The Anatomy of the New Politics. University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK.Google Scholar
Ofcom 2006. Older People and Communications Technology: An Attitudinal Study into Older People and Their Engagement with Communications Technology. Ofcom, London.Google Scholar
Office for National Statistics 2011. Internet Access Quarterly Update. Office for National Statistics, London.Google Scholar
Pahl, R. E. 1970. Patterns of Urban Life. Brill, London.Google Scholar
Pew Research Center 2010. Internet Adoption 1995–2010. Pew, Washington DC. Available online at http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data/Internet-Adoption.aspx [Accessed 12 July 2011].Google Scholar
Phillipson, C. 1982. Capitalism and the Constructions of Old Age. Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C. 2007. The ‘elected’ and the ‘excluded’: sociological perspectives on the experience of place and community in old age. Ageing & Society, 27, 3, 321–42.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C., Bernard, M., Phillips, J. and Ogg, J. 2001. The Family Life and Community Life of Older People: Social Networks and Social Support in Three Urban Areas. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Putnam, D. 1995. ‘Tuning in, tuning out’: the strange disappearance of social capital in America. Political Science and Politics, 28, 4, 664–83.Google Scholar
Rees Jones, I., Hyde, M., Victor, C., Wiggins, R., Gilleard, G. and Higgs, P. 2008. Ageing in a Consumer Society: From Passive to Active Consumption. The Policy Press, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Reynolds, F. 2010. ‘Colour and communion’: exploring the influences of visual art-making as a leisure activity on older women's subjective well being. Journal of Aging Studies, 24, 2, 135–43.Google Scholar
Rheingold, H. 1993. A slice of life in my virtual community: global networks, computers and international communication. In Ludow, P. (ed.), High Noon on the Electric Frontier: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 413–36.Google Scholar
Robertson, D., Smyth, J. and McIntosh, I. 2008. Neighbourhood Identity: People, Time and Place. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York, UK.Google Scholar
Rowles, G. D. 1983. Place and personal identity in old age: observations from Appalachia. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3, 4, 299–313.Google Scholar
Scherger, S., Nazroo, J. and Higgs, P. 2011. Leisure activities and retirement: do structures of inequality change during old age? Ageing & Society, 31, 1, 146–72.Google Scholar
Scott, J. K. and Johnson, T. G. 2005. Bowling alone but online together: social capital in e-communities. Journal of the Community Development Society, 36, 1, 1–17.Google Scholar
Scott, M., Russell, P. and Redmond, D. 2007. Active citizenship, civil society and managing spatial change in the rural–urban fringe. Policy and Politics, 35, 1, 163–90.Google Scholar
Shergold, I. and Parkhurst, G.Transport-related social exclusion amongst older people in rural Southwest England and Wales. Journal of Regional Studies, forthcoming.Google Scholar
Son, J., Yarnal, C. and Kerstetter, D. 2010. Engendering social capital through a leisure club for middle-aged and older women: implication for individual and community health and well-being. Leisure Studies, 29, 1, 67–83.Google Scholar
Spencer, L. and Pahl, R. C. 2006. Rethinking Friendship: Hidden Solidarities Today. Princetown University Press, Woodstock, New York.Google Scholar
Stacey, M. 1969. The myth of community studies. British Journal of Sociology, 20, 2, 134–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thane, P. (ed.) 2005. The Long History of Old Age. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Tönnies, F. and Loomis, C. P. 1957. Community and Society (Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft). Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, Michigan.Google Scholar
Van der Meer, M. J. 2008. The sociospatial diversity in the leisure activities of older people in the Netherlands. Journal of Aging Studies, 22, 1, 1–12.Google Scholar
Walker, A. 1981. Towards a political economy of old age. Ageing & Society, 1, 1, 73–94.Google Scholar
Walker, A. 2005. Towards an international political economy of ageing. Ageing & Society, 25, 6, 815–39.Google Scholar
Wellman, B. and Gulia, M. 1999. Net surfers don't ride alone: virtual communities as communities. In Smith, M. and Kollock, P. (eds), Communities in Cyberspace. Routledge, London, 167–94.Google Scholar
Wenger, C. G. 1995. A comparison of urban with rural support networks: Liverpool and North Wales. Ageing & Society, 15, 1, 59–81.Google Scholar
Willmott, P. 1989. Community Initiatives: Patterns and Prospects. Policy Studies Institute, London.Google Scholar
Wilshusen, P. R. 2009. Shades of social capital: elite persistence and the everyday politics of community forestry in south eastern Mexico. Environment and Planning A, 41, 2, 389–406.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation (WHO) 2001 a. Health and Ageing: A Discussion Paper. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation (WHO) 2001 b. Active Ageing: From Evidence to Action. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation (WHO) 2002. Active Ageing: A Policy Framework. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation (WHO) 2006. Global Age Friendly Cities Project. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
Zaranek, R. R. and Lichtenberg, P. A. 2008. Urban elders and casino gambling: are they at risk of a gambling problem? Journal of Aging, 22, 1, 13–23.Google Scholar