Distance, Equity and Older People’s Experiences in the Nordic Periphery: Centering the Local

This book demonstrates how the largely neglected and multifaceted concept of distance can be used as a primary lens to expand and enrich our understandings of what older people say about their lives, needs and wishes in diverse surroundings in the Northern periphery and beyond.

It asks how physical, social and emotional distances shape older people’s everyday lives and practices. Contributions from leading experts provides interdisciplinary investigations into the experiences and stories of older people in the Northern periphery. These insights demonstrate the utility of the concept, distance, when reflecting on the central aspects of contemporary ageing societies. The book explores key themes such as care, age politics, technology, intergenerational relations and migration, providing perspectives that are applicable across a variety of international geographical contexts.

This innovative book offers a valuable theoretical and methodological contribution with critical new perspectives on ageing in relation to distances. It will be of interest to students and scholars interested in sociology, human geography, health and social care, ageing and gerontological studies, gender studies and Arctic studies.

Shahnaj Begum is working as a University Researcher at the Unit for Gender Studies in the University of Lapland. Her research background lies in the disciplines of law and the social sciences, spanning Arctic Studies, human rights, ageing and ethnicity in the North and gender studies. She is a lead and coordinator of projects named (a) AGE-Immigrant, funded by Academy of Finland, Research Council for Culture and Society; (b) Gender inequality among care givers in aging sector in Nordic Countries; (c) Understanding Ageing, gender and ethnicity (AGE-Arctic) both funded by Nordic Council of Ministers. She is the Vice-lead at UArctic Thematic Network which is entitled "Ageing & Gender in the Arctic" and a member of the University of the Arctic Thematic Network of Health and Well-being in the Arctic. She has received the prestigious Finnish Academy’s Postdoctoral position for three years (September 2022 to August 2025).

Joan R. Harbison is an Adjunct Professor at the Dalhousie University School of Social Work in Canada. Her scholarship focuses on critical interdisciplinary approaches to ageing. She has led and contributed to many national and international texts, journals and projects. She has a ten-year association with this Nordic group of colleagues. Dr. Harbison’s recent work includes: Harbison, J.R. (2022) ‘Human rights and ageing’ in Torres, S. and Donnelly, S. (eds.) Critical Gerontology for Social Workers. Bristol: Policy Press; Harbison, J. R. and Pettipas, D. (2020) ‘Validating voice in critical clinical work with older people’ in Brown, C. and MacDonald, J. (eds.) Critical Clinical Social Work: Counter storying for Social Justice. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press; and Naskali, P., Harbison, J. and Begum, S. (2019) (eds.) New Challenges to Ageing in the Rural North: A Critical Interdisciplinary Perspective. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Päivi Naskali is working as a Professor of Gender Studies (emerita) at the University of Lapland. She has supervised approximately 200 master’s theses and 13 doctoral theses. She has been leading the Finnish University Network of Gender Studies, working actively in the National Doctoral School in Gender Studies and edited the Finnish Journal of Gender Studies. Her research interests include aging in the sparsely populated areas of the north, gendered practices and policies in education, and feminist pedagogy and philosophy. She has lately been leading a research project Understanding Ageing, gender and ethnicity. Experiences from European Arctic are funded by Nordic Council of Ministers Arctic Co-operation Programme (three-year project). She is the leader of UArctic Thematic Network Ageing & Gender in the Arctic.

Minna Zechner is an Associate Professor in social and health services at the University of Helsinki. Her research focuses mainly on care of older persons, for example, care policies, care governance in Nordic countries familialization, economization and finansialization of care. She was one of the editors and authors of the two main books on care published in Finland (2009 and 2016). She is a member of care researcher collective "Vaiva" that published in 2022 a book titled The Politics of Ailment: A New Approach to Care. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Schools of Social Work.