The natural, the normal and the normative: Contested terrains in ageing and old age
The natural, the normal and the normative: Contested terrains in ageing and old age
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DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.07.022
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发表时间：
2010-10-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Higgs, Paul F.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Jones, Ian Rees;Higgs, Paul F.
英国和美国等国在健康和寿命方面的改善从根本上动摇了老龄化和老年的概念。从19世纪开始，社会和生物医学的发展对自然生命过程的观念提出了挑战，这种观念遵循着人们通常所理解的以虚弱和死亡告终的阶段。生物老年学和生物医学的突破创造了一种日益分化的正常衰老概念的可能性。克服或显著减少身体变老带来的与年龄相关的影响的潜力，促使许多社会老年学家主张回归更常态化的老龄化和老年概念。本文考察并概述了这些不同话语之间的紧张关系，并指出，我们对规范的理解也在快速变化，因为它与当代消费社会固有的身体多样性相交。借鉴乌尔里希·贝克和齐格蒙特·鲍曼的理论工作，本文认为，多样性的规范化导致了规范性思想的重新构建，这反过来又反映在制度安排和法律制度层面的深刻变革中。这些变化不仅导致更多关于什么是法律和社会可以接受的讨论，还可能导致对结果进行更多监管的呼声。在这篇文章中，我们认为，如果我们要理解健康的这个重要领域，我们需要区分新重新配置的自然领域、正常领域和现在用于理解老龄化的标准领域。(C)2010爱思唯尔有限公司。保留所有权利。
Improvements in health and longevity in countries such as the UK and USA have radically destabilised notions of ageing and old age. From the 19th century onwards the idea of a natural lifecourse following normatively understood stages ending in infirmity and death has been challenged by social and biomedical developments. Breakthroughs in bio-gerontology and in bio-medicine have created the possibility of an increasingly differentiated idea of normal ageing. The potential to overcome or significantly reduce the age-associated effects of bodies growing older has led many social gerontologists to argue for a return to a more 'normatively based conception of ageing and old age. This paper examines and outlines the tensions between these different discourses and points out that our understanding of the norm is also fast changing as it intersects with the somatic diversity inherent in contemporary consumer society. Drawing on the theoretical work of Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt Bauman, this paper argues that the normalization of diversity leads to a reworking of the idea of normativity which in turn is reflected in profound transformations at the level of institutional arrangements and legal systems. Such changes not only lead to more discussion of what is legally and socially acceptable but also potentially lead to greater calls for regulation concerning outcomes. In this paper we argue that we need to distinguish between the newly reconfigured domains of the natural, the normal and the normative now being utilised in the understanding of ageing if we are to understand this important field of health. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.