ABSTRACT
The sociology of age and the life course consists of very heterogeneous orientations to research, including subject matter, methodology, and theory. Even inconsistency in the language used to describe its subject matter older adults versus elders versus the elderly; later life versus later adulthood versus old age; life course versus lifespan suggests extreme heterogeneity of approaches, including disagreement within the field. Connections between human rights sociology and scholarship within sociology of age and the life course (SALC) that has salience to human rights remain underdeveloped. Three SALC areas that are promising for integration are explored here: age segregation, ageism, and the extent to which age is an axis of differentiation and discrimination for human rights among groups and individuals across the life course. In relation to these three major areas, population aging, globalization, and debates within SALC about age-linked vulnerability are briefly considered.
