title: The effect of political generation on identity and social change: Age cohort consequences.
abstract: In this article, we explore how political generation affects the ways in which diverse individuals come together and change their social and personal identities. Drawing on 52 in-depth interviews with members of the Red Hat Society, we show that women draw on their political generation, and the gains of the women's movement specifically, to oppose cultural constructions of aging. The Red Hat Society provides a "free space" for women to foster a collective identity that both visibly challenges aging norms and provides its members new standards for self-approval. We conclude by highlighting the importance of focusing on political generation to understand collective action over the life course and call for more scholarship on the function of political generation in social change.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Sociology , University of Kentucky , Lexington , KY.
authors.forename: Robyn Lewis
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: b Department of Sociology , Florida State University , Tallahassee , FL.
authors.forename: Deana A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Rohlinger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011057:Politics; D012922:Social Change; D012933:Social Identification
keywords: Age identity; generational change; social movement participation