dimensions Simon Biggs biggssunimelbeduau sbiggsbslorgau From Demographic to Cultural Adaptation S Biggs University of Melbourne amp Brotherhood of St Laurence Two Questions How do we adapt to a society where generations will be approximately the same size ID: 554730
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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 Slide32Slide33Slide34Slide35
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