Grand societal challenges such as population ageing require scientists and humanities scholars to work together for the common good. In this paper, I draw on my experience as a political scientist who has worked with colleagues in history, material culture and linguistics to expand the boundaries of knowledge of our ageing societies. This is a political project as the long-term goal is to challenge inaccurate myths and stereotypes around human ageing.
Examples from our collaborations include using John Snow’s cholera map to teach social policy students about the value of taking the long view on demography, and employing fictional characters with dementia to explore empathy of the general public towards people with dementia.
This inter-disciplinary approach to researching ageing reaps rich rewards in terms of creative outputs and ongoing collaborations. However, it is not without its challenges; finding common ground in terms of what constitutes valid research evidence can be difficult. So, in the second half of the paper I explore the role of narratives in providing this common ground.
As human beings, we need narratives to help us to make sense of the world, particularly when the story is a sad one (Bitenc, 2020). Stories with no happy ending guaranteed, such as the case with a neurodegenerative condition like dementia. Constructing a narrative inevitably involves using building blocks from previous and related narratives. For example, the discipline of gerontology itself is built on the narrative of decline, an overtly white, patriarchal and heteronormative account of human ageing (Carney and Hannan, 2021). In this way, an historical perspective demonstrates that the narrative of decline, resilient for centuries will not be eradicated by simply offering up scientific evidence to the masses.
The challenge for researchers working across disciplines to better understand human ageing is to acknowledge that, while ‘the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house’ (Lorde, 1984), recognizing our intellectual heritage and pooling expertise leaves us better placed to use knowledge of human ageing to challenge persistent and inaccurate myths and stereotypes of old age (Borsch-Supan, 2013; Carney, 2017). Likewise, working across disciplines allows us to engage with old concepts in new ways. Ultimately, this can only enhance our capacity to anticipate and plan for the future challenges of population ageing.
I conclude that working across disciplines is worth the effort given its potential to transform the knowledge and experience of human ageing in a global context.
Biography
Dr. Gemma Carney has a PhD in political science from Trinity College Dublin. She is a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Ageing at Queen’s University, Belfast, UK, where she is disciplinary lead for Social Policy. She has published in major journals including European Journal of Ageing, Journal of Aging Studies, Gender & Society, Critical Social Policy and Ageing & Society. She serves on the editorial board of Ageing & Society and the conveners’ group of the Social Policy Association. Her 2020 book Critical Questions for Ageing Gemma M. Carney, Ark Ageing programme/Science and Culture Research Group, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. Societies (with Paul Nash, University of Southern California) was nominated for the Richard Kalish Award for Innovation in Publication in 2021. Carney and Nash are currently working on a chapter ‘Ageing, Diversity and Inequality: ageing and the matrix of domination model’ for the forthcoming Research Handbook on Sociology of Aging. Gemma is also working on a chapter on Political Cultures of Ageing for the next edition of the Routledge Handbook of Cultural Gerontology. She is also a member of the Science and Culture Research group at Queen’s University Belfast.
References
Bitenc, R. (2020) Reconsidering dementia narratives. London: Routledge. Borsch-Supan, A. (2013) ‘Myths, scientific evidence and economic policy in an ageing world’ Journal of Economics of Aging, (1): 3-15.
Carney, G. M. (2017) ‘Towards a gender politics of aging’ Journal of Women & Aging, 30:3, 242-258, DOI: 10.1080/08952841.2017.1301163
Carney, G. M., and Hannan, L. (2021). ‘“To write my autobiography and get myself in focus genetically”: G. Stanley Hall’s Senescence’ (1922). Age, Culture, Humanities: an interdisciplinary journal