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bookwantstocontributetoabetterunderstandingofhowthesesocietiesarechanging
andhowtheyarerespondingtothischallenge.
Withthisinmind,agroupofscholarsfromtheEAST("Eastern-EuropeanAgeing
SocietiesinTransition”)researchnetwork2thatisco-ordinatedbytheOxfordInstitute
ofAgeing(OIA),UniversityofOxford,tofacilitategerontologicalresearchinCEE,set
outtoexplorethemanifestationofsocietalageinganditsconsequencesforolderpeople
incontemporaryCEEsocieties.ThisresearchhasbeenjointlydirectedbytheOIAand
theInstituteofSociology,JagiellonianUniversityCracow.SociologistsfromPoland,as
wellasfromBulgaria,theCzechRepublic,EastGermany,Slovenia,andtheUKpar-
ticipatedinthefirststageoftheresearch.Initialndingsofthislong-termcollaboration
werepresentedinasessionon"AgeingandSociety”atthe13thPolishSociological
CongressthattookplaceinZielonaGóraonSeptember13–15,2007.Throughthepub-
licationofthisbook,theseresearchoutcomeswillbemadeavailabletothewideraca-
demiccommunity.
Theaimofthebookentitled"AgeingSocietiesinCentralandEasternEurope:Some
ProblemsSomeSolutions”istopresentthespecificchallengesageingsocietiesinse-
lectedCentralandEasternEuropeancountriesface,withaparticularfocusonPolish
society.Questionstobeaddressedinthisvolumeinclude:Howdoesdemographicage-
inginfluencesocietalchange?Howcanweovercomeagediscrimination?Whowillcare
forincreasingnumbersofolderdependentsatatimewhenthenumbersofpotentialfam-
ilycarersisdwindling?Howwillfamilychangeimpactonintergenerationalsolidarity?
Howcanthespecificskillsoftheyoungandtheoldbecombinedintheworkplace?How
arepolicymakersandpoliticiansdealingwiththeageingissues?Howcanthepublic
pensionssystemsbemadefinanciallysustainabletopreventpovertyandsocialexclusion
ofolderpeople?
Thebookisorganisedinthreeparts.Thefirstpartisentitled"SocietalandDemo-
graphicAgeinginEurope”andcomparespopulationageinginCEEwithdemographic
changeelsewhereinEurope.SocietalageinginCEEhastobeseenaspartofwiderde-
mographicchangeinEurope,thoughtherearesomesubtledifferences,whichthisbook
willbegintoaddress.
Inthefirstchapter,MartaSugarevaandKamelliaLillovaoftheBulgarianAcademy
ofSciencesdevelopanewtypologyoftheageingsocietiesinEuropebasedonthelevel
ofdemographicageingachievedandwhattheyrefertoas‘demographicburden’,which
isoperationalisedusingvariousdependencyratiomeasures.Theyusestatisticaldata
fromallEuropeansocieties,EasternandWesternEurope,NorthernandSouthernEurope,
EUmemberstatesandotherEuropeancountries.
ThenextchapterbytheBritishteamLauraBanks,PhilipHaynesandMichaelHill
takesacloserlookatinformalnetworksofolderpeopleintheCzechRepublic,Hungary
andPolandandcomparesthemwiththoseinsomeNorthernEuropean(Denmark,
Finland,Norway),CentralEuropean(Austria,France,Germany,Switzerland),Western
European(theUK),andSouthernEuropean(Italy,Spain)societiesusing2001
InternationalSocialSurveyProgramme(ISSP)data.Thischaptergivesafascinating
insightindifferencesandsimilaritiesinthenatureofolderpeople’ssocialnetworksin
theabovementionedcountries.Differenceswereparticularlypronouncedinregardto
2FormoreinformationonEASTpleasevisit:http://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/research/regions/europe/east