‘ The purpose of a long life: contemporary narratives and - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

‘The purpose of a long life: contemporary narratives and spiritual dimensions’

Simon

Biggs

biggss@unimelb.edu.au

sbiggs@bsl.org.auSlide2

From Demographic to Cultural AdaptationS Biggs University of Melbourne & Brotherhood of St LaurenceSlide3

Two QuestionsHow do we adapt to a society where generations will be approximately the same size?What is the purpose of a long life?

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide4

Rethinking the Lifecourse Slide5

Vienna Int’l Plan of Action on Ageing (1982)

‘

A longer life provides humans with an opportunity to

examine their lives in retrospect

, to correct some of their mistakes, to get closer to the truth and to

achieve a different understanding

of the sense and value of their actions.’

Vienna Conference logoSlide6

Madrid Int’l Plan of Action on Ageing (2002)

Article 10:

‘the potential of older persons is a powerful basis for

future development

. This enables society to rely increasingly on the skills, experience and wisdom of older persons, not only to take the lead in their own betterment but also to

participate actively

in that of

society

as a whole’.Slide7

Work to the rescueCaro, Bass & Chen 1993 “Any activity by an older individual that contributes to producing goods and services or develops the capacity to produce them

”.

OECD, 2006

from ‘active ageing’ to ‘live longer-work longer’

Australian Intergenerational

Report

2010

Policies

to lift productivity and reduce barriers to participation also will help address the fiscal pressures of an ageing population by supporting higher economic growth over the longer term.

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide8

A Virtuous Material Circle

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide9

Work to the rescue?Evidence is mixed on:Who benefits and who doesn’t- professionals or workersGender and different work trajectoriesHealth enhancing or eroding- cumulative advantage and disadvantageRetirement is healthy too!

Stress, autonomy & discretion in ‘the new workplace’

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide10

The strategies older workers adopt The continuers- cannot imagine not working The cynics- disillusion with employment, sense of betrayal The

individuators

- desire to balance work and non work activities

T

he survivors- precarious work, low skill, low pay and ‘have to work’

(Biggs,

McGann, Kimberley & Bowman, 2015)

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide11

Intergenerational CompetitionWilletts (2010) ‘The Pinch: how the baby-boomers took their children’s future’ (UK)Financial Times (2011) ‘Age and the workplace: a battleground for the generations’‘The wealth of generations’ : Australian public pension policy should reduce the benefits to older generations and transfer to other age groups or “intergenerational rebalancing” Grattan Institute (2014)The “fairness index” between people under 30 and those over 60 a widening gap between generations. Recommends UK redistribution in favour of younger group. Intergenerational Foundation (2015)

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide12

A Precarious Circle

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide13

Two Answers?What is the purpose of a long life? Continuity of work for as long as possible.

How do we adapt to a society where generations will be approximately the same

size? ‘More of the same’ plus generational competition

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide14

Belief and Spirit

A subversive discourseSlide15

A purpose beyond work continuity‘There comes a stage in peoples’ lives when they no longer have to justify their existence; when it is right and proper for them to spend time reflecting on what they have been and what they have done and trying to make better sense of it’

….

‘Having

time to ‘make your soul’…

suggests

that most of us in our working lives will have had little time to give substance and depth to who we really are’

243

Williams

R. (2012) Faith in the Public Square.

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide16

A neglected question‘while we have learned so much in the last half century about the biological, social and psychological processes involved in human

ageing ,we

have neglected the spiritual dimension.

This

neglect is even more surprising when one takes into account that the later stages of life raise fundamental questions about the purpose and meaning of life’’

(

Coleman 2011

: 1).

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide17

‘Why’ Questions‘Why’ implies going beyond ‘How’ in the same way as a family who asks ‘why is my house flooded?’ are not particularly helped by an explanation of weather fronts .

Cole

(1992) has argued that spiritual belief constitutes a wakening of cultural resources to respond to existential issues, vulnerability and dependencies that ageing brings to the fore

.

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide18

Belief and SpiritA subversive discourse thatRecognises vulnerability

Accesses liminality (in-between states)

Builds pre-figurative communities

Process: make the

intangiable

visible

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide19

Belief, Spirit & the In-Between‘Beliefs

and values pertaining to a

search for meaning and

purpose in or beyond life

’ (Sadler and

Biggs, 2012)Coleman (2011) notes the capacity religious belief can implant to ‘

endure hardship

and remain resolute in the pursuit of goals’

Dartington

( 2010

)

‘respect for the

vulnerability in others that we seek to deny in ourselves’

Moberg (2001) ‘

awareness of the

hunger for eternity

that seems implanted in the human heart

’

Laceulle

(2013)

‘

transforms these so call losses that

transcends the common language of decline

and opens up new possibilities for meaning’

Williams (

2012) It

is not an exaggeration to say that, in such a perspective, growing old will make

the greatest creative demands

on your life

’

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide20

Liminal spaces (in-between-ness)The questions that spiritual life sets for adult ageing mean that personal and social priorities cease to make sense in the same way as they do within materialist narratives.

One

is placed in a liminal, or in between, state concerning both realities, with belief exerting influence in the role of a gate-keeper to aspects of human experience that go beyond itself.

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide21

Forms of In-between-ness: Vulnerability‘Sensitivity for vulnerability is to an important degree constitutive of the quality of the inter-human condition, and shapes how and with what intensity we take part in life (

Baars

2012: 204

)

an essential part of the human

situation

existing as a continuum in everyday life

increasingly

important as we grow

older

holds the promise of a common bond between self and other

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide22

Forms of in-between-ness: The Brixton studyS

tudy

of Black and White community centre members in South London.

The

routes consisted of four categories of

relationship’.

A

‘God to self ’

relationship involved an increasingly close and personal connection with God as a transcendent and indwelling spirit, directing their everyday actions and conduct with

others

‘

Self to God’

narratives

drew

upon their relationship with the divine, through faith in a transcendent and benevolent guiding force in times of need.

‘Self to universe’

involved a growing awareness of a broader transcendent reality through nature, music or art.

‘

Self to life’

respondents reported existential narratives about a finite lifespan that provoked a need for meaning and purpose in

life

Sadler, Biggs and Glaser (2013)

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide23

From in-between-ness to communityWe recognise this

God-given dignity and worth whenever

we

act kindly and justly, whenever we exercise

power

responsibly

. … Living

well is living in communion with God, with one another,

with

creation, and with one’s self.

Christian

faith and spirituality help us live well even

with

the ambiguity of ageing, which can be seen as the tension between old age as a time

of

fruition and fulfilment, as well as a time of decay and loss.

Ames, S. (2012)Slide24

From In-Between-ness to InterconnectionEarth and heaven (spiritual)Self and other (relational)Past and future (lifetimes)Slide25

So what’s our special contribution?

A subversive

discourseSlide26

A subversive alternative

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide27

From vulnerability to liminal spaces to pre-figurative communitiesThe

route out of despair runs through compassion for others, care for the community and the weak, because these activities are pleasing to and bring us closer to God

. (Ingram and Loy, 2005)

Vulnerability

and our actions to remedy it, especially in others, create a liminal state where we are more in touch with being between material and spiritual

worlds.

In terms of purpose and age, the degree to which spiritual beliefs provide a roadmap to self-development and relationships with others may simply have been eclipsed by more pressingly incomplete answers.

Create communities that prefigure that connection. Alternative spaces where different forms of relationship can develop.

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide28

A different language, a different kingdomFrom

Invulnerability

Continuity

Instrumentalism

Competition

Material

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne

To

Vulnerability

Transformation

Empathy

Community

SpiritualSlide29

A new virtuous circle

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide30

Those questionsWhat is the purpose of a long life? Transformation and adaptation through recognising vulnerability.How do we adapt to a society where generations will be approximately the same

size? recognising distinctiveness plus generational

cooperation

Through

p

refigurative

communities and liminal awarenessSimon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide31

Raymond Williams again‘We have to develop a view of human flourishing and human justice that is not content with the criteria of producing and consuming alone. Properly understood, a positive attitude to ageing is an act of faith in human freedom from the mechanical processes of work and the anxieties that go with this’

(2012)

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide32
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Mean ratings of life satisfaction, by age and gender, 2001−12 The “U’ Effect

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide36

Living with the In-betweenConnective vulnerability

Spiritual longing

Relationship

Liminal spaces

Between material and

spiritual

Discontinuity,

lifecourse

change and transformation

Prefigurative

community

Self and other

Generational empathy

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne Slide37

Precarious Ageing, Precarious SolidaritiesIntergenerational relations: a simultaneous experiencing of the erosion of current and future life chances. Both are becoming more precarious. Younger adults: but find themselves in work that has little security, poor pay and no obvious career pathway (Standing 2011).In long life: lengthened statutory retirement ages, ambiguous availability and quality of work, inadequate/unaffordable care and support services, poor housing (Biggs, 2014).

Simon Biggs Brotherhood of St Laurence and School of Social & Political Sciences University of Melbourne