This thesis is about the social recovery of Japanese elderly after disasters, more specifically after the 3.11 disaster. The theory of Pierre Bourdieu was used to analyze the difficulty of elderly...Show moreThis thesis is about the social recovery of Japanese elderly after disasters, more specifically after the 3.11 disaster. The theory of Pierre Bourdieu was used to analyze the difficulty of elderly to recover on a social level from disasters by looking at the amount of social capital that elderly might have before the disaster and what social capital they could lose as a result of that. It appears that the elderly do not necessarily have more difficulty to recover socially from a disaster because of the amount of social capital they generally possess. This forms a contrast with the general stereotypes of the elderly.Show less
In face of various political and economic challenges, the EU has been making efforts to glue its member states together through the concept of a “European culture.” This research seeks to answer...Show moreIn face of various political and economic challenges, the EU has been making efforts to glue its member states together through the concept of a “European culture.” This research seeks to answer how the position of elderly citizens in the aspiration of fostering “Europeanness” through the The European Year represents the larger problematics of creating a “European” identity? In this way, another aspect of the complicated matter of the creation of “one united European people” is to be provided by including how the attempts of creating unity can be at the expense of excluding certain persons and even whole demographic groups who do not fit into the specific rhetoric of unity. The innovativeness of this research lies in the fact that it will focus on elderly EU citizens. So far, this demographic group has namely been insufficiently recognised in the context of “European” identity creation.Show less
