Death in Old Age

Barbara A. Misztal is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at University of Leicester, where she has taught from 2002. After finishing her MA in Sociology at University of Warsaw, and PhD in Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, her first teaching experience was at University of California, Riverside, where she also spent her postdoctoral year. After that she worked at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Warsaw, and between 1990 and 2002 at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. She is interested in sociological theory, with the main focus being on problems of trust, informality, dignity, forgiveness, vulnerability, normality and memory. Her recent research focus on the significance of literary sources in older people’s search for narratives that make sense of life. She is the author of several books, including Later life: Exploring the Experience of Ageing Through Literature (2020), Multiple Normalities: making sense of ways of living (2015), The Challenges of Vulnerability (2011), Intellectuals and the Public Good. Creativity and Courage (2007), Theories of Social Remembering (2003), Informality: Social Theory and Contemporary Practice (2000), Trust in Modern Societies (1996), Action on AIDS. National Policies in Comparative Perspective (edited with D. Moss, 1990).

Contents: Too old to die young: The perception and visibility of death in old age – Too old not to remind us about death – The ageing population as a threat to society – Meeting death – places and occasions – Facing the death of loved ones – Public debates about the value of the end – In the shadow of death – Handling the last stage – Fate’s deception.