Higgs, Paul;
Cooper, Claudia;
Roche, Moïse;
(2024)
Race, ethnicity, culture and later life: Problematic categorizations and unsatisfactory definitions.
In: Langbein, Julia and Cosgrove, Mary and Fuchs, Anne, (eds.)
Framing Ageing: Interdisciplinary Perspectives for Humanities and Social Sciences Research .
(pp. 199-215).
Bloomsbury Academic: London, UK.
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Abstract
In 2020, the differential impact of Covid-19 mortality and morbidity accentuated the need to interrogate the role of race and ethnicity in the field of health and ageing (Bhala et al. 2020), and to understand the interconnections between race and ethnicity, and history and inequality (Taylor 2020). The growth of older populations in the UK, as in other high income countries, has also added renewed urgency to academic and professional interest in ‘ethnogerontology’ (Crewe 2005). Making sense of the language that is used to describe populations and to frame how racial and ethnic disparities are experienced whilst considering how race and ethnicity as identification grounds contribute to inequalities is an important discussion to be had, if we are to advance the gerontological imagination on race, ethnicity and ageing well. This chapter provides a critical commentary on the nature of the plurality of terminology and meanings of racial and ethnic categories used in gerontological research. It argues that the collective categorization and labelling of minoritized ethnicities (ME), as the groups bearing the brunt of this homogenization, offers little clarity and perpetuates a culture of racial binary of ‘Whiteness versus Otherness’. Attention is drawn to the problematic history and unscientific basis of the key concepts – of race and ethnicity – on which the formulation of these categories and collective terminologies are predicated. The chapter also queries their value and appropriateness to modern research and practice. It concludes that their use should be limited to rare and specific circumstances instead of becoming ubiquitously routine. Advice and recommendations are made on information that should be included in ethnicity-focused research that might better meet the needs of a diverse and racialized society.
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