An examination of age and ageing in terms of the key preoccupations of contemporary sociology - citizenship, the body and the self. The book looks at these themes in relation to specific topics such as: mental health; fitness and consumption; and combining social theory with reality.

Cultures of Ageing aims to redress this imbalance. Starting from a radically different perspective, the authors identify the changing nature of ageing as both central to, and problematical for, modern life. The rise and subsequent crises of welfare state systems have invested old age with a key role in redefining the position of citizens and the role of governments. Ageing has ceased to have any stable meaning in relation to biology, policy or experience. Instead it has become an open phenomenon of flux rather than of closure. This new book focuses upon these changes and examines in particular the significance of lifestyle cultures associated with the third age. Each chapter of this book examines a different aspect of ageing and relates it to the core themes of self and identity, citizenship, and the body.