ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book looks at the development of gerontology as a discipline and notes the relationship between its “late arrival” within the social sciences and the influence of many different streams of thought that coexist within it. The book explores the perils and possibilities of theory within gerontology. It focuses on the experience of feminist thought in order that critical gerontologists might learn from its changing fortunes and avoid similar problems within their own discipline. The book offers a radical perspective on teaching gerontologically. It considers the legacy of social construction in sociology and its implications for social gerontology. The book examines a key distinction that has historically divided the study of adult ageing into structured inequalities on the one hand and experienced identity on the other. It relates age and identity to a wider debate on the post modernization of contemporary society.
