Book Cover
E-book
Author Silver, Michelle Pannor, author

Title Retirement and its discontents : why we won't stop working, even if we can / Michelle Pannor Silver
Published New York : Columbia University Press, [2018]

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 279 pages)
Contents Renegade retirement and the greedy institution : the doctors -- Refined retirement and fulfillment employment : the CEOs -- Early retirement and resilience : the elite athletes -- Late retirement and working in place : the professors -- Undefined retirement and the retirement mystique : the homemakers
Summary In the popular imagination, retirement promises a well-deserved rest--idle days spent traveling, volunteering, pursuing hobbies, or just puttering around the house. But as the nature of work has changed, becoming not just a means of income but a major source of personal identity, many accomplished professionals struggle with discontentment in their retirement. What are we to do--individually and as a culture--when work and life experience make conventional retirement a burden rather than a reprieve? The author considers how we confront the mismatch between idealized and actual retirement. She follows doctors, CEOs, elite athletes, professors, and homemakers during their transition to retirement as they struggle to recalibrate their sense of purpose and self-worth. The work ethic and passion that helped these retirees succeed can make giving in to retirement more difficult, as they confront newfound leisure time with uncertainty and guilt. Drawing on in-depth interviews that capture a range of perceptions and common concerns about what it means to be retired, the author emphasizes the significance of creating new retirement strategies that support social connectedness and personal fulfillment while countering ageist stereotypes about productivity and employment. A detailed and personal exploration of the challenges faced by accomplished retirees, this book demonstrates the importance of personal identity in forging sustainable social norms around retirement and helps us to rethink some of the new challenges for aging societies
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes In English
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on August 09, 2018)
Subject Retirement -- Social aspects
Retirement -- Psychological aspects
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Cultural Policy.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Popular Culture.
Retirement -- Psychological aspects
Retirement -- Social aspects
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2018012239
ISBN 9780231547925
0231547927
0231188560
9780231188562