Baby boomers (those born c. 1945 to c. 1965) are entering later life. As a result, by 2035, almost a quarter of the UK population will be over 65. Current policy and practice in the UK is that people should, wherever possible, age at home, but there is no research into what home means to baby boomers. Therefore, this researcher asks two questions. Firstly, how can the meaning of home for baby boomers be explored? Secondly, what influence does the life course have on the meaning of home for six baby boomers? Existing literature informed the research. For example, some literature suggests methodology for researching issues similar to the meaning of home; other research explores meanings of home amongst groups other than baby boomers; and research into the life course of baby boomers has attributed to them characteristics which could influence their meaning of home. As a result, this researcher adopts a qualitative methodology which participant generated images, photo elicitation interviews and reflective review panels. This enabled the meaning of home for six participants to emerge from stories and photographs of their own homes and their individual life course. The six stories are published as a separate volume. Although based on only six baby boomers, the research suggests important conclusions. The first research question produced unique methodology for revealing deep layers of understanding of the meaning of home for these baby boomers. The second research question showed that, despite what one might expect from reading other research, the unique life course of six baby boomers has not created a meaning of home which is markedly different from earlier cohorts. However, what is acknowledged is that choice which is a key concept for the meaning of home, is influenced by the broader social context of demographic changes and changes in living arrangements. Further investigation of the meaning of home for baby boomers is necessary to help influence policy and practice; this research proposes important ideas about the methodology for that work, also suggestions for further research based on the findings from this study.

This thesis explores the philosophy and politics of recognition. Specifically, it examines the connections between identity, feminism and recognition politics. The thesis draws on feminist and post-structuralist theories of the subject to challenge contemporary models of recognition, especially as formulated by Axel Honneth and Charles Taylor. Consequently, the overarching aim of the thesis is threefold: (I) to establish an appropriate model of the subject; Cll) to identify the most promising form of contemporary feminism; and (Ill) to develop a distinctive understanding of recognition which can do justice to the insights of this form of feminism, thus producing a critical perspective on existing political theories of recognition. To this end, the thesis advocates a feminist politics inspired by the work of ludith Butler and Michel Foucault, and demonstrates how their work can be used to reveal fundamental problems for many existing theories of recognition. In particular, the thesis examines the ways in which recognition is bound up with normalising and exc1usionary processes connected to subject-formation and social identities. This is placed alongside the positive aspects associated with recognition, such as its ability to foster self and social acceptance, in order to produce a more complex and ambivalent account of recognition than, one finds in much of the existing recognition literature. The ambivalence of recognition is further demonstrated through an exploration of transgender politics, with a focus on how gender identities are regulated and normalised by institutional and social practices. These reflections are brought together through a discussion of what makes for a "liveable life". The thesis examines how recognition, feminism and theories of the subject contribute to how we understand a liveable life, and the ways in which feminist politics can help make more lives liveable.

As many changes in society, such as increased geographic mobility and improved technological advances, have led to generations frequently becoming segregated from one another, the development of intergenerational shared sites (IGSS) presents a unique opportunity for exchange and interaction between the generations. This study ‘tells the story’ of the development of the UK’s first IGSS – a purpose-built intergenerational centre (the Centre).

L'objet de cette thèse est de montrer que le contact avec les jeunes peut diminuer les effets délétères de la menace du stéréotype (i.e., la crainte de confirmer le stéréotype négatif de son propre groupe) sur la performance des personnes âgées, en France et en Indonésie. Dans les deux pays, les personnes âgées sont stéréotypées comme ayant de faibles capacités mnésiques. Nous examinons également les rôles médiateurs de l'anxiété (liée à la performance et/ou celle d'intergroupe) et de l'empathie (l'empathie cognitive, également appelée «perspective taking», et/ou l'empathie affective) dans le lien entre la menace et la performance, en fonction du groupe culturel auquel appartiennent ces personnes âgées. Les participants, des personnes âgées en France et en Indonésie, réalisaient une tâche présentée soit comme un test de mémoire (menaçant pour les personnes âgées) ou comme un exercice cognitif (non menaçant). Les résultats montrent que, dans les deux pays, la menace entraîne la diminution de la performance des participants par rapport à la tâche, particulièrement chez ceux qui ont peu de contacts positifs avec les jeunes en dehors de la famille. Parmi ceux ayant des contacts positifs, la menace ne réduit pas leur performance. Les contacts avec les jeunes au sein même de la famille, par exemple avec les petits enfants, entraînent également des meilleures performances chez les participants âgés en France, contrairement à ceux en Indonésie. Les résultats révèlent que l'anxiété, contrairement à l'empathie, est une variable médiatrice du lien entre la menace et la performance. Tout en révélant l'influence de la culture, l'anxiété liée à la performance chez les participants français versus l'anxiété intergroupe chez les participants indonésiens, explique la diminution des performances. La discussion se focalise sur les différences aussi bien dans la nature des contacts intergénérationnels que dans la perception de soi chez les personnes âgées dans ces deux pays. / The present studies examined whether contacts with young people reduce the negative effects of stereotype threat (i.e., fear of confirming the negative stereotypes of one's own group) on the performance of the elderly in France and in Indonesia. The extent to which this is mediated by anxiety (performance anxiety and/or intergroup anxiety) and empathy (i.e., cognitive empathy, also called perspective taking, and/or affective empathy) as a function of cultural groups was also examined. Samples of elderly people in France and in Indonesia completed a task that was framed as a memory test (high-threat situation, given the stereotype of the elderly as forgetful in both countries) or a cognitive exercise (low-threat situation). Results showed that, in both countries, threat decreased the performance of the elderly, but only among those who had little positive contacts with young people outside the family. Among those who had more positive contacts, threat did not lower their performance. Contacts with you people within the family, such as grandchildren, also had similar buffering function among our French participants, but not among Indonesian participants. Results also revealed anxiety, but not empathy, as the mediating factor of the link between threat, contacts, and performance. Revealing the importance of culture, it was performance anxiety for the French vs. intergroup anxiety for the Indonesian elderly that mediated the effects of threat on performance. The discussion focuses on the differences in the nature of intergenerational contacts and in the self-perception of the elderly in the two countries.