Editorial for special issue Ageing, body and society: Key themes, critical perspectives

Over the last two decades significant theoretical, methodological and empirical developments have explored the social, biological and cultural dimensions of our bodies as we grow older. An earlier concern within ageing studies that a focus on the bodies of older people represented a return to biological determinism and an overly medical approach has been replaced by a realisation how a focus on ageing bodies offers a novel lens to examine a range of existing sociological and theoretical concerns. These include the nature of the body, self and ageing; social identities and social inequalities; lived experiences and everyday life; the role of materiality and consumption in the cultural constitution of age; health and illness; and ageing across the full lifecourse from midlife to deep old age.

It is over twenty years since Peter Őberg published his seminal article in Ageing & Society on the absent body in gerontology (Öberg, 1996). It is therefore timely to bring together established and emergent researchers to review the wealth of work in this area, and to take forward key debates, enhance current and emergent theoretical perspectives, and disseminate empirical research in ‘ageing, body and society’. In particular, this special issue aims to highlight and explore interconnections between the corporeality of ageing bodies and the socio-cultural context in which we live. The special issue has built upon the international networks and focus of the British Sociological Association (BSA) Ageing, Body and Society study

group1 for which the co-editors Dr. Wendy Martin and Professor Julia Twigg have been co-convenors since 2007. Through international symposia and an annual one day conference, the study group has brought together international academics and researchers whose work focuses on ageing, bodies and embodiment, exploring and debating different theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches and empirical findings.