Growing Old in a New China

Transitions in Elder Care

By Rose K. Keimig

SERIES: Global Perspectives on Aging

Rutgers University Press

Growing Old in a New China: Transitions in Elder Care is an accessible exploration of changing care arrangements in China. Combining anthropological theory, ethnographic vignettes, and cultural and social history, it sheds light on the growing movement from home-based to institutional elder care in urban China. The book examines how tensions between old and new ideas, desires, and social structures are reshaping the experience of caring and being cared for. Weaving together discussions of family ethics, care work, bioethics, aging, and quality of life, this book puts older adults at the center of the story. It explores changing relationships between elders and themselves, their family members, caregivers, society, and the state, and the attempts made within and across these relational webs to find balance and harmony. The book invites readers to ponder the deep implications of how and why we care and the ways end-of-life care arrangements complicate both living and dying for many elders.

Rose Keimig's Growing Old in a New China is the first real ethnography of institutionalized eldercare in China, and also a fine description of old age and of eldercare between family members in China today. A first-rate account—seamlessly integrates traditional and contemporary indigenous ideas with broader theories of care. Impressive!'
Arthur Kleinman, author of The Soul of Care

This ground-breaking ethnography takes readers on a journey into China’s new elder care homes, focusing on the lives of those who live and work there. Richly detailed, beautifully written, and theoretically inspired, this book is a must-read for scholars of Asia, medical anthropology, aging and care. Marcia C. Inhorn, co-editor of Reconceiving Muslim Men: Love and Marriage, Family and Care in Precarious Times

Rose Keimig's Growing Old in a New China is the first real ethnography of institutionalized eldercare in China, and also a fine description of old age and of eldercare between family members in China today. A first-rate account—seamlessly integrates traditional and contemporary indigenous ideas with broader theories of care. Impressive!'
Arthur Kleinman, author of The Soul of Care

This ground-breaking ethnography takes readers on a journey into China’s new elder care homes, focusing on the lives of those who live and work there. Richly detailed, beautifully written, and theoretically inspired, this book is a must-read for scholars of Asia, medical anthropology, aging and care. Marcia C. Inhorn, co-editor of Reconceiving Muslim Men: Love and Marriage, Family and Care in Precarious Times

ROSE KEIMIG is a medical anthropologist who is interested in the ways humans experience change across the life course. She works as a UX Researcher.

Introduction
1: Filial Children, Benevolent Parents
2: Bodies in History, Embodied Histories
3: Place & Space, Rhythm & Routine
4: Entanglements of Care
5: Care Work
6: Chronic Living, Delayed Death
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Bibliography

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