Ageism, social inclusion and digital public service: Considering age relations in the 21st century

This chapter critically investigates commonsense understandings of older age, and their sociological bias, politics, analytic limitations and social consequences, using examples from current policy initiatives to digitalize public services. It defines ageism as a relationship of generational abstraction, homogenizing, segregation, invisibility and exclusion, which is commonly reproduced in and through the design of material and digital environments. It argues that dichotomous conceptualizations of generational divides limit our understanding of inter- and intra-generational diversity in the digital era and can augment the disadvantage and exclusion (of old and the young alike). The chapter uses this framework to interrogate aspects of digital inclusion policy design in the UK.