Sociology / Unit 7 Soc 1146 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Modernization Theory of Aging
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The idea
Modernization theory of aging holds that industrialization lowered elders' status by replacing the extended family, which gave them a role, with the nuclear family.
In practice
An extended family relied on an elder's labor and knowledge; an industrial economy needs neither.
Where people slip
This theory is distinct from Soc 0872's modernization theory of inequality; they share only a name — mechanism and subject both differ.
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