Science and technology have become central to the daily experiences of health and illness for older people, from pharmaceuticals to walkers and cell phones. This has resulted in ‘technogenarians’ − technologically savvy older people. In investigating elders’ experiences of health, illness, science, and technology, the authors emphasize the need to put ageing, science, and technology at the centre of analyses of health and illness.
Technogenarians adds theoretical and empirical depth to our understanding of two concurrent trends: firstly, the biomedical aspects of ageing bodies, minds, and emotions, including the development of anti-ageing or longevity medicine; and secondly, the rise of gerontechnology industries and professions, which largely accept the ageing processes and provide technology to assist the changes brought on by ageing. The book theorizes how and where these two trends overlap and differ in relation to ageism, health, and illness.
From the Back Cover
Science and technology have become central to the daily experiences of health and illness for older people, from pharmaceuticals to walkers and cell phones. This has resulted in ‘technogenarians’ – technologically savvy older people. In investigating elders’ experiences of health, illness, science, and technology, the authors emphasize the need to put ageing, science, and technology at the centre of analyses of health and illness.
Technogenarians adds theoretical and empirical depth to our understanding of two concurrent trends: firstly, the biomedical aspects of ageing bodies, minds, and emotions, including the development of anti-ageing or longevity medicine; and secondly, the rise of gerontechnology industries and professions, which largely accept the ageing processes and provide technology to assist the changes brought on by ageing. The book theorizes how and where these two trends overlap and differ in relation to ageism, health, and illness.
About the Author
Kelly Joyce is Associate Professor of Sociology at the College of William and Mary. Her research on technology, science, and health has been published in Science as Culture, Social Studies of Science, and other academic journals. Dr Joyce’s book Magnetic Appeal: MRI and the Myth of Transparency (2008) offers a sociological exploration of magnetic resonance imaging technology. Her current research examines medical knowledge about, and the experiences of people who live with, autoimmune illnesses.
Meika Loe is Associate Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Colgate University in New York. Her critical scholarship on culture, age, medicine, technology, and gender has appeared in a range of academic journals including Contexts, Gender & Society, Feminism & Psychology, Symbolic Interaction, Sexualities, and Sociological Inquiry. She is the author of The Rise of Viagra: How the Little Blue Pill Changed Sex in America (2004), and a forthcoming book on the oldest old in America.
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