Organizing aging transnationally

During the past decades the lifeworlds of older people have become increasingly transnationalized due to improved economic and emerging technological and health-related possibilities. At the same time demographic changes and... [ view full abstract ]

During the past decades the lifeworlds of older people have become increasingly transnationalized due to improved economic and emerging technological and health-related possibilities. At the same time demographic changes and longer lifetimes lead to increasing needs and rising costs for nursing and care in old age in industrialized countries. Within this context, social services and organizations play a crucial role supporting and facilitating transnational options in old age. They offer for example solutions to specific problems such as long-term care beyond national borders. The symposium focuses on these (new) phenomena by looking at the social practices, mechanisms and consequences of organizing aging transnationally.
For this reason case studies from different countries will be presented which focus on how transnational aging is organized and produced at the level of everyday lifeworlds as well as of social services and organizations. Accordingly, the following research questions will be at the centre of the symposium: Which social orders are produced and reproduced in transnational everyday practices and in transnational organizations for the elderly? What conceptions of aging and old age do emerge? To what extent does the transnational organizing of old age becomes a business? What commodification does appear in elderly care when the field is shifted to transnational spaces and is not financed by social security systems (anymore)? Against this backdrop the social implications for the sending and the receiving countries will be discussed. The case studies presented employ a wide range of research methods, including participant observation, informal and semi-structured interviews, and content and survey data analysis.
Organization: International Research Cluster Transnational Social Support (TRANSSOS) - Working Group “Transnational Aging”.