This series of presentations are an accompaniment to terrific textbook 'Sociology, 7th edition' by Giddens and Sutton (2013). There is a very strong focus on visuals, with many additional short activities designed to foster interaction between teachers and students. The text from Giddens and Sutton is usually paraphrased and reworded to aid the comprehension of students, particularity those of lower language ability than Giddens and Sutton had in mind. The sociology of the age and the life course is the perfect embodiment of contemporary sociology as a whole, and a branch of the discipline with direct relevance to every individual in late-modern capitalist industrial societies. Sociology is the study of how the structure of any particular society largely dictates how individuals must live; the analysis of the plight of the modern individual in a rapidly changing world. By using this frame of reference, we often reveal social phenomena previously regarded as "natural" and eternal as -in actual fact- "social constructions" that are completely dependent on the socio-historical era for their own existence. The sociology of the life course looks at how the meanings attached to something as fundamental as a "stage of life" (e.g. childhood) change across time and space; in other words, in different historical eras and -still today- in different places around this complex and diverse planet, the expectations attached to -say- being pre-teen, a teenager, or someone over the age of 50 are products of capitalist, industrial modernity and therefore very, very recent developments in our 800,000 year human history. This series begins with an introduction to the different aspects of ageing, with an emphasis on the development of social self (looking-glass self), which is something all humans do regardless of time and space; it is part of the psychological process of growing up in all societies. We then establish what social ageing is; the fundamentals of the sociology of ageing. Later chapters of the series analyze the different stages of life, in turn, in socio-historical perspective; beginning with what we would today call "childhood" (pre-teen), before looking at "youth", "young adulthood", "mature adulthood" and finally "later life".

1. The Sociology of
the Life Course
6- Later life; with emphasis on
Vietnam, and the industrialized
‘West’
Accompaniment
to the superb
Giddens and
Sutton (2013)
(left) Chapter 9,
with an
assortment of
additional
accompanying
resources and
activities

2. Contents
6 The sociology of later life
Also in the series…
1 How do people age?
2 The sociology of childhood
3 The sociology of youth and adolescence
4 The sociology of young adulthood
5 The sociology of mature adulthood

3. The life stages in socio-historical perspective:
4- Later Life
With emphases on Vietnam and the industrialized “West”
see G&S 2013:352

4. Despite the efforts of Aubrey DeGrey and the
SENS Foundation –and
medical science generally- we do certainly all
grow old and, eventually,
die
Activities:
Do you fear growing
old? What might
make the process
more bearable?

5. We have seen how modernityand
late modernity
change the meanings associated with
all stages of life, and “later life” is no
different

6. In other times and
spaces, the elderly have always
been treated with upmost
respect and granted the
highest
status of all age grades
Activities:
(i) What do you do to
show respect for the
elders in your life?
(ii) What do the folded
arms of the children
above symbolize? It’s
not what you might
think!

7. In Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Native
American, African, South American -for
example- the elderly are looked
up to for the wisdom
and guidance they offer
younger generations

8. Not surprisingly, this was and is also the case in
indigenous
societies where the elderly are
a source of knowledgein a world of
word-of-mouth
Activity:
In indigenous societies, what
topics might the elderly be
consulted on?

9. In the late-modern
world, the elderly
are still
“respected” -
within families at least- but
not to the extent of
earlier eras
Today’s elderly can feel
out-of-dateand
irrelevant in a
fast-changing
society Activity:
In what ways is today’s
society particularly fast-changing?

10. In a fast-paced
and
fast-changing
society that so clearly
values
youthfulness,
and requires so much
energy, increasing age
no longer denotes
increasing
status
Activity:
In what ways does our
society value
‘youthfulness’, and how
can this be
exemplified?

11. Today’s elderly can face
ageist
hiring practices in
the
workplace
Activity:
What is ‘ageism’ and
why might employers
display signs of it?
Answer with reference
to authority, power
and status

12. …“symbolic
annihilation
” through media
imagery and –in
general- a sense that they are
“past it” and useless; not to
mention a drain on the
fundsof their
familiesand
government
Activity:
What is ‘symbolic
annihilation’ and what
other groups suffer from
it in the media?

13. Furthermore, today’s elderly are
prone to
loneliness
and depression; a
sad by-product of the
“freedom” enjoyed by
younger generations
Many may have never had
children, or –more commonly- have
no relatives living in their
geographical area
Activity:
Review the factors
contributing to the
loneliness experienced
by many elderly today.

14. Many people in the
contemporary world die
apart from their
family and
friends, in private
“retirement
-” or “care-homes”
To many, this
typifies the
experience of the late-modern
individual;
isolatedfrom
one’s extended
family and
lacking
community
Activities:
(i) Would you like your
parents to be cared
for in a retirement
home when they are
very old?
(ii) Would you like to
spend your last days
in a retirement home?

15. In Vietnamesesociety,
language gives a clear indication of the
importance of age; one
addresses people accordingnotto their age
itself, but to the differences
in age between the two speakers.
One addresses someone based on how much
younger or olderthey are than
yourself

16. In Vietnamese culture, age is still seen as
an assetrather than a
liability, to a
great extent; and people of all
ages must show
respect to those older
than them
Activity:
In late-modern
industrial societies, why
might age be seen as a
liability?

17. In Vietnam, it is culturally
unacceptable to raise
one’s voice to anyone older than
oneself –for example- or to serve
oneself before
them at dinner
Activity:
Suggest some
more ways
respect can be
shown to one’s
elders in your
culture
In Vietnam, children fold
their arms when speaking
to elders- to show respect! Note
that in other cultures this may well
signifylack of
enthusiasm or stroppiness

18. At the top of the Vietnamese age
stratification
system is the elderly; and in
terms of life experience,
today’s elderly Vietnamese
have “seen it all”…
Activity:
Can you list three crucial
events (and their
aftermath) that today’s
over-80 Vietnamese have
lived through?

19. Many of today’s elderly remember
gaining
independence
from French rule in 1945-
following the end of World War II

20. And all of today’s elderly
Vietnamese lived through the –
for many-brutal war with
America

21. Today’s Southernelderly recall
American occupation during
the war, followed by the onset of
Communism

22. …whilst Northernersmay
have suffered carpet bombings
and jungle
warfare; their “side” lost ten
times as many people as the “losers”, USA

23. Northern and Southern elderly alike
then endured hard
times
materially; food
shortages,
starvationfor
many, and
authoritarian
Communist
government
throughout the late 1970s and 1980s

24. …followed by the opening-up of
Vietnam to some degree of “Western capitalism”
with Doi Moi in 1986, and
subsequent rapid
development,
especially since 2000

25. Today’s Vietnamese elderly are rightfully
highly respected…
But in most global societies, norms
regarding age and
status change with the onset of late
modernity. What will this
mean for the elderly
of Vietnam?

26. As a perfect example of a
country in
demographic
transition,
Vietnamhas a
“ticking
timebomb”
demographic problem
regarding the elderly
Activity:
What is a “ticking
timebomb” problem?

27. Activities:
(i) What does the graph represent?
Does it show a snapshot or a trend?
(i) We know that Vietnam’s fertility rate
is now under 2, whereas in the
1940s-1980s it was over 4 (see
GapMinder software). Combine this
information with what we see in the
graph to make a demographic
prediction for 2060.

28. Today’s young people are
giving birth to far fewer
babies per
woman than in previous
decades; meaning that by
around 2060, the
country will be under
enormous strain to care
for its elderly
Activities
(i)Which nations worldwide have this
problem already? Are they in an early,
or advanced stage of the demographic
transition?
(ii) In what ways does an elderly person
act as an economic liability to their
family and nation state?
(iii) What short- and long-term solutions
to this problem can you suggest?

29. As with many countries with this problem e.g.
Japan, this difficult
process coincides with what was already a time
of declining “respect”
for the elderly due to modernization
Can Vietnam maintain its
traditions in the face of late
modern
development
and the
demographic
transition?