Going Grey

Dr Scott Davidson is at the University of Leicester, UK. Alongside his academic career Scott has a professional career history of over ten years working in public affairs, campaigns and the media, including a period as campaigns manager for Age Concern. He brings to his research his experience of creating and managing a wide range of successful initiatives and campaigns, drawing upon direct experience of working in political communications as well as in the local government, health and voluntary sectors.

• List of Figures and Tables, Acknowledgements, 1. Introduction, 2. The Great Age Transformation, 3. Theories of Ageing, 4. Age is a Political Issue: The Attempts to Frame Ageing as Socially Divisive, 5. Ageist Stereotyping and Discrimination, 6. Ageing in the Media, 7. The Politics of Ageing: Age and Voting Behaviour, 8. My Generation ... My Life Story: The Role of Cohorts and the Life Cycle, 9. Political Marketing and the Segmentation of the Grey Vote, 10. Quantifying the Rise of the Grey Vote, 11. Time Bombs and Greedy Boomers … Case Study Analysis: Elite BBC Reporting on the Political Implications of Ageing – Making a Drama out of a ‘Crisis’?, 12. Mediating the Grey Vote: The UK General Election Campaigns of 2005 and 2010, 13. Constructing the Grey Vote, References, Index

’In this original and important book, Scott Davidson analyses an increasingly significant political and cultural phenomenon. With societies now and in the immediate future containing an increasing proportion of older citizens, political parties will need to give greater attention to the so-called grey vote. Not only will their campaigning strategies be challenged, but also ingrained cultural prejudices, shared by both politicians and journalists, will have to change. The social and political implications of ageing are also a neglected field of academic study, a situation which this pioneering book seeks to redress.’ Andrew Tolson, De Montfort University, UK