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Ageing between Gerontology and Biomedicine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2009

Tiago Moreira  and
Paolo Palladino
Tiago Moreira
Affiliation:
School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, 32 Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HN, UK E-mail: tiago.moreira@durham.ac.uk
Paolo Palladino
Affiliation:
Department of History, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YG, UK E-mail: p.palladino@lancaster.ac.uk
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Abstract

Over the past two decades, public interest in the basic biological processes underlying the phenomenon of ageing has grown considerably. New developments in biotechnology and health maintenance programmes appear to be forging new relationships between biology, medicine and the lives of older people. A number of social scientists describe the process as the ‘biomedicalization of aging’. In this article, we argue that contemporary biogerontology, an important sub-field of gerontology that could be construed as the primary actor in the process of ‘biomedicalization’, should be regarded instead as advancing a critique of biomedicine. We then provide a genealogy of the critique and close the argument by pointing to sources of uncertainty within biogerontology, which should be taken into account in any further studies of the relationship between biology, medicine and the lives of older people.

Keywords

AgeingBiologyBiomedicineEvolutionGovernanceMedicinePublic Health
Type
Articles
Information
BioSocieties , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , December 2009 , pp. 349 - 365
Copyright
Copyright © London School of Economics and Political Science 2009

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