weberian

• Weber

  • if one does not have the skills required in the workplace, e.g. the elderly who lack technological skills, then they will suffer low status
  • however, if one is upper class and is elderly, this will explain why they will not suffer the same loss of status, as their financial resources means that they can live a comfortable life, regardless of their skills. (e.g. the queen)
• Parkin - social closure

  • exclusion strategy may be used by groups anxious to protect their privileges from new recruits so that groups may insist on a certain criteria to restrict people joining and gaining their privileges. e.g. cannot apply for a pilots license until age 21.
  • usurpation strategy is used to grab some of the privileges of others. e.g. campaign to force back the retirement age.
• Parkin - negatively privileged status groups

  This can be applied to the elderly who are socially segregated by being ignored or represented negatively in the media, and by retiring from work. This makes them less visible in society and leads to them being excluded from important roles and opportunities
• Turner - exchange theory

  • age discrimination is best understood in terms of status. Both the elderly and young become stigmatised due to not having what it takes to gain high status
  • In a society based on consumption, high status is given to those who have material goods. Since young & elderly are least likely to have this, they have low status
• Turner - reciprocity-maturation curve of ageing

  • when groups (like the elderly) are dependent, they tend to have low status.
  • in a gerontocracy (a society where elderly hold power) the elderly have high status, which is seen in african and asian societies.
  • So, inequality is not just about economic capital, but also about societal values.
  • age can affect whether one has high or low status, depending on how much society values age and wisdom