Introduction

This chapter expands on the engagement with scholarship started in the previous two chapters. It engages with one of the paradoxes highlighted in Chapter 1: that there are only separate theories on ageing and on disability, impacting on our ability to conceptualise relationships between the two (Murphy et al, 2007). I compare key theoretical perspectives on disability and on ageing, engaging especially with critical or cultural studies, and also consider other areas of scholarship where theorising on disability and ageing could meet. The chapter outlines scholarship that forms a backdrop to, and a rationale for, the empirical study discussed in Part II. It also aims to show how these various fields currently engage, and fail to engage, with the issue of disability in older age, as well as where there may be room for more conversations across them.

I start with social theories of ageing, followed by social theories of disability. I then consider an aspect of the sociology of chronic illness and disabling conditions, and I discuss lifecourse perspectives, before drawing the discussion together. I conclude that critical studies, encompassing a range of perspectives, in both disability and ageing often use similar paradigms to explore ageing and disability but that the two fields largely progress on separate tracks. The review also confirms that gerontologists and some writing within disability studies recognise the need for more exploration of subjective experiences associated with disability in later life.

Scholarship on ageing: social theories

In this section, I introduce social theories of ageing. An informing issue is that despite a ‘huge industry’ addressing impacts of ageing populations, social science approaches are dominated by issues to do with the third age, that is, issues focused on younger-older people or non-impaired older people (Grenier, 2012; Phillipson, 2013: 128). While there are many studies of impairment in later life, they usually start from a functionalist perspective (Raymond et al, 2014). Thus, it is arguable that sociological understandings of late older age are at an early stage of development and have been subordinated to a dominant biomedical model (Phillipson, 2013: 128, 134). This review engages mainly with critical or cultural perspectives because of their contemporary relevance. However, I first introduce two early theories – disengagement and activity theories – as they continue to resonate.

Ageing in early theorising: disengagement theory, activity theory and beyond