Introduction – social policy and ageing through austerity

This chapter establishes the key arguments for this book, locating the text amidst significant knowledge gaps concerning the intersection of ageing, social policy and austerity. The chapter proposes Ireland as a unique and valuable case-study for the analysis, presenting in brief some of the conflicting and contrasting patterns arising from growing older during a time of economic recession and austerity driven social policy. The chapter presents the book’s critical gerontology approach. It describes the context of austerity in Ireland, charting the nation’s transition from unprecedented economic growth, to severe economic recession to, perhaps again, economic recovery. The chapter positions Ireland, and its economic crisis, in the global political economy and provides a critical overview of the historical evolution of ageing-related social policy in Ireland. The chapter ends by outlining the structure of the book and the contributions from each of the authors.