ABSTRACT
As anthropologists have long pointed out, ageing and the self’s journey into later life are subject to wide cross-cultural variation. The construction of time and the life cycle, meanings given to the ageing body and the levels of power and authority experienced by old people vary widely, and, unsurprisingly, are usually closely related to political, economic and historical particularities. Within the ‘ideal type’ of ageing in Bangladesh, the later stages of life usually involve an increased amount of status and power for individuals. As the heads of their households, male elders are in positions of authority over their children and control household resources. Until their father and mother die, the extended household is normally kept together and adult sons do not inherit land. To this extent the relationship between age and power has a material base, albeit one that is dependent upon having adult sons and owning property.
