Doctoral Dissertation Research: Interdependent Livelihood Strategies Among the Elderly in Northern Region, Ghana

博士论文研究：加纳北部地区老年人相互依存的生计策略

• 批准号: 1103184
• 负责人: Susan Roberts
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of Kentucky Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-07-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1103184&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Interdependent; Livelihood

The ways in which differently aged persons participate in livelihoods is not well understood. The elderly are often cast as dependent, yet many make significant contributions to the food security and social support of their families and communities. Despite this, international development projects and the empirical research on which they are based, including those focused on livelihood studies, are predominantly youth-oriented and focus on the material exchanges of young and middle-aged persons that supply income and subsistence to households. This research project builds on previous research within gerontology, geographies of age, feminist geographies and geographies of care to re-conceptualize the way in which the social construction of age has implications for livelihood strategies. By employing a variety of methods, including comprehensive household surveys, individual life histories interviews, focus groups, participant observation and participatory mapping, this research will document the social relationships through which livelihood strategies are practiced by elderly persons in a rural community in Northern Ghana. Findings from this research will demonstrate that diverse livelihood strategies are not just found and fostered within the activities of individuals, but also in the politics of inter-generational relationships within households. This project expects to demonstrate that the elderly face particular opportunities and limitations as a result of the socio-spatial relations associated with later life, rendering their livelihood strategies distinct from those practiced by younger persons.This project will help inform development-oriented livelihood studies which have tended to focus on programs for young and middle-aged adults and have underplayed the importance of the role of the elderly in household livelihood strategies. This research connects with the growing awareness of the rights and needs of older persons in developing countries where the neglect of the elderly continues, despite international policies, including the United Nation's International Plan of Action on Ageing ratified in the early 21st century. Result of this work will contribute both empirically and theoretically to the goals of feminist geography and the importance of gendered perspectives in development studies.

不同的年龄人参与生计的方式尚未得到充分理解。 老年人经常被视为依赖，但许多人为家庭和社区的粮食安全和社会支持做出了重大贡献。尽管如此，国际发展项目和他们所依据的实证研究，包括专注于生计研究的项目，主要是面向青年的，并专注于向家庭提供收入和生存的年轻和中年人的物质交流。该研究项目基于老年医学，年龄，女权主义地理位置和护理地理的先前研究，以重新概念化年龄的社会建构对生计策略的影响。通过采用各种方法，包括全面的家庭调查，个人生活史访谈，焦点小组，参与者的观察和参与式地图，这项研究将记录社会关系，在加纳北部农村社区中，老年人实践了生计策略的社会关系。这项研究的结果将表明，在个人活动中，在家庭内部的活动中也发现了不同的生计策略，而是在家庭内部关系中的政治中发现和培养。该项目希望证明，由于与以后的生活相关的社会空间关系，老年人面临特定的机会和局限性，这使他们的生计策略与年轻人所实践的策略不同。该项目将有助于为发展为导向发展的生计研究，这些研究倾向于将重点放在年轻和中年成年人的策略中，并在策略中扮演了该策略的策略。这项研究与发展中国家对老年人的权利和需求的认识越来越多，尽管国际政策，包括联合国在21世纪初期批准的国际衰老行动计划，但仍在忽视老年人。这项工作的结果将在经验和理论上促进女权地理的目标以及性别观点在发展研究中的重要性。