Author Description

The Handbook of Sociology of Aging is the most comprehensive and engaging treatment of the field over the past 30 years. It is an indispensable resource for scholars, policy makers, and aging professionals alike. The book contains 45 chapters, authored by nearly 80 renowned experts, each offering a 30-year retrospective on pressing topics related to aging today. With its recurring attention to the social forces that shape human aging, and their social consequences and policy implications, the contents will be of interest to everyone who cares about what aging means for individuals, families, and societies. Two forewords highlight the significance the handbook for scholarship and policy-making on aging. The chapters illustrate the field's extraordinary breadth and depth, which have never before been represented in a single volume. They range from foundational matters, including classic and contemporary theories and methods, to topics of longstanding and emergent interest, such as diversity and inequalities, relationships, institutions, economies and governments, vulnerabilities, public health, and care arrangements. The volume closes with a set of personal essays written by a group of senior scholars who share their experiences and hopes, and an essay by the editors that previews some of the most exciting prospects for the decade ahead.