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Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Concept of Retirement: An Analytic Redefinition

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Abstract

A cross-cultural valid analytic definition of retirement remains elusive in gerontology despite a long tradition of research on the topic. Inadequate attention has been paid to consistently defining the key concepts used to examine retirement and to specifying its occurrence in non-Western, non-industrial societies. This paper critically reviews basic cultural tenets in the notion of retirement, and proposes a more comparatively valid definition. It then proposes a three part comparative categorization by exploring retirement in contemporary Western nations and comparing it with retirement-like practices from a range of non-Western cultures including Thai, Chinese, Ladak, Fulani, Lusi and Aymara.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Gerontology, USA

    Mark R. Luborsky (Director of Aging & Health Disparities Research)

  2. Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA;

    Mark R. Luborsky (Director of Aging & Health Disparities Research)

  3. STINT, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Mark R. Luborsky (Director of Aging & Health Disparities Research)

  4. Research Technician, Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State, University, Detroit, Michigan, USA

    Ian M. LeBlanc

Authors
  1. Mark R. Luborsky
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  2. Ian M. LeBlanc
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Luborsky, M.R., LeBlanc, I.M. Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Concept of Retirement: An Analytic Redefinition. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 18, 251–271 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JCCG.0000004898.24738.7b

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