Publication Abstract
de Klerk, Josien. 2011. “Being old in times of AIDS: aging, caring and relating in northwest Tanzania.” African Studies Collection African Studies Centre.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in northwest Tanzania has profoundly
shaped the experience of growing old. Older men and women take
on new care tasks, such as caring for orphaned grandchildren
and nursing dying patients. Yet, at the same time, while the elderly
grow older, their own old-age care becomes increasingly uncertain.
Situating older people’s stories in debates around kinship and relating,
this detailed ethnographic account captures the diverse experiences of growing
old in the era of AIDS and shows how this process implies a tension between the
increased necessity to forge relations of care and the confrontation with the aging
body.
shaped the experience of growing old. Older men and women take
on new care tasks, such as caring for orphaned grandchildren
and nursing dying patients. Yet, at the same time, while the elderly
grow older, their own old-age care becomes increasingly uncertain.
Situating older people’s stories in debates around kinship and relating,
this detailed ethnographic account captures the diverse experiences of growing
old in the era of AIDS and shows how this process implies a tension between the
increased necessity to forge relations of care and the confrontation with the aging
body.