Book Review : Jay Sokolovsky (Ed.), The Cultural Context of Aging: Worldwide Perspectives (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, 1997. $79.50 (cloth), $29.95 (paper

Abstract

The first edition of The Cultural Context of Aging, published in 1990, was widely used in teaching settings, and this second edition is most welcome. The development of anthropological contributions to the study of aging worldwide is well-reflected in the 13 chapters that have been revised from the first edition and the 13 new chapters, as well as the much expanded and thoughtful section introductions written by Jay Sokolovsky. A welcome addition to this edition is the chapter by Kinsella on the demography of aging around the world. This provides an important base for the ethnographic analyses that follow. This new edition recently received the Kalish Award from the Gerontological Society of America, a much deserved recognition of outstanding quality. The volume is appropriate for upper-division undergraduate teaching or for graduate teaching in multidisciplinary gerontology programs. The extraordinary emphasis the editor has placed on providing useful resources for teaching is obvious in the linkage of this edited volume with a second edition of Shenk and Sokolovsky’s Teaching About Aging : Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Perspectives (forthcoming), the didactic section introductions, and the &dquo;Key Resources&dquo; sections at the end of every section introduction. These Key Resources include lists of organizations, Internet Web sites, funding agencies, and print resources. As Sokolovsky points out