Paper short abstract:

The paper focusses on the social world of middle class elders in urban Holland and urban (Buddhist) Sri Lanka (Colombo) and the challenges to name similarity and difference. The paper tries to develop the comparision along the matter of fact way of "shaping the social , in line with Bourdieu's concept of 'habitus'/learned ignorance.

Paper long abstract:

The paper focusses on the social world of middle class elders in urban Holland and urban (Buddhist) Sri Lanka (Colombo) and the challenge to name similarity and difference. The paper tries to develop a comparision along the lines of the matter of fact way of 'shaping the social', in line with Bourdieu's concept of 'habitus/learned ignorance'. It takes into account the idea of family; intergenerational relations and care; fixed and fluid boundaries of the home; the self/person/lifespan; friends and acquaintances; ways of keeping company: proximity and distance; the idea of 'everyday sociality'/'relatedness'.

My aim is two-fold: Reflect on implications of similaries and difference in the ageing-experience; reflect on our concepts to understand and name socio-cultural difference/nuance in meaning.