*** BLANDINE LAPERCHE (Editors): Géront’innovations. Trajectoires d’innovation dans une économie vieillissante. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (41 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 – fax: 3761727 – Email: brussels@peterlang.com and order@peterlang.com – Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Business & Innovation”, No. 13. 2016, 278 p. €42, £34, $54.95. ISBN 978-2-87574-337-4.
An ageing population is a phenomenon that is not sparing any country, not even China or countries with high birth rates such as Mexico and Turkey. It is, however, in the western world where the effects of this phenomenon are going to become increasingly spectacular, starting with Japan where almost 40% of the population will be aged over 65 in 2015. In the European Union, the country at the top of the list in this category, where people over 65 are expected to account for 36% of the population by the same date, is Spain. This country is closely followed by Italy, Greece, Portugal and Germany. The figure in France is expected to be around 26%. It is obvious that this evolution in the age pyramid will have ramifications, if not damaging effects, or at least consequences on the living conditions and the cost of care for the elderly and pension systems.
Although these consequences have already been the subject of much attention within the scientific community, there have so far been very few studies focusing on the potentially positive ramifications that could develop from this evolution in society. It is this “void”, which the authors of this book (the majority of whom are members of the Innovation and Research Network) seek to address by looking at the impact of the ageing population on economic activity and the potential of innovation on this situation. All of the researchers contributing are convinced that, as Blandine Laperche points out in her “general presentation”, the elderly constitute a potentially important market due to their purchasing power and the potential growth in their population, which could provide the “silver or greying market with every possibility of becoming a future market and source of investment opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs”. The research focuses mainly on France but also provides an insight into Japan and China. They also concentrate on the characteristics of supply in the enterprise chain and the technologies that could possibly be involved in this supply, as well as the innovation relating to them. These potential benefits are patent, although the researchers also identify the blockages and barriers that are likely to put a brake on “the development and diffusion of innovation in the geriatric domain”.
The first part of the book particularly focuses on the potential of innovation represented by the ageing population and the economist, Blandine Laperche (Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale), opens fire by defining the concept of innovation in geriatrics based on gerontechnology as a scientific discipline and the key technologies involved (ICT, automation, robotics, as well as nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, informatics and cognitive sciences (NBIC) and the innovation that results from them. The other authors then focus on recent developments in robotics (particularly with regard to “home help robots”, which seek to provide assistance for the elderly, infirm or dependent), the impact of the ageing population on technological innovation in the areas of agri-foods, transport for the elderly and, finally, “the silver economy” which is taking shape in China just as the “Chinese population is at risk of getting old before it becomes rich”. The second part of the book examines prospects, challenges and the impact of innovation in this area, particularly in light of the impact in the domain of care services for the elderly. Consequently, a number of questions are posed in terms of training care workers and the participation of users in the innovation process. In this connection, clarification is provided on the example of Japan in this book but also France, which is still very much affected by this phenomenon. None of these specificities should reduce the overall interest of this book because it is written in such a way that it could provide some useful inspiration to researchers seeking to examine these questions elsewhere in the world. Pierre Bouvier
*** Revue politique et parlementaire. R2P (42 rue de Bassano, F-75008 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 76470930 – Email: contact@revuepolitique.fr – Internet : http://www.revuepolitique.fr ). October-December 2016, No. 1081, 160 pp. €25. Annual subscription: €90 (France), €120 (abroad). ISBN 978-2-85702-198-8.
This issue of the review created in 1894 is “the oldest French political journal” and focuses entirely on the “continuing revolution” of the elderly. Any interpretation to the movement that led Emmanuel Macron to the French Presidency should be avoided. The title should, instead, be seen as an invitation to grasp the scale of the challenges and opportunities provoked by this societal evolution in France, in society, the regions, economy and environment. The editor of the publication, Vincent Dupy, points out that retirement is no longer considered as the beginning of old age but rather, “the beginning of a new life that can last 20, 30 or even 40 years” as confirmed by the “silver economy” and the very real opportunity of growth and employment for years to come. The different contributions bear this out but the philosopher, Pierre-Henri Tavoillot, observes that although it is good news is that we are ageing in a better way, “we are less aware of why this is and this is exactly the crux of the problem”. This lecturer at the Université Paris-Sorbonne appeals to people to, “understand that real wisdom is not so much learning how to die (in this connection, even the most obtuse of us can learn to this without any difficulty) but rather, learn how to age”. He also adds that the great sages of the past understood, for example, what François Mauriac meant when he exclaimed, “It is not because we have one foot in the grave, that we just have to start walking with the other”. (MT)
*** Südosteuropa Mitteilungen. Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft (49 Widenmayerstrasse, D-80538 Munich. Tel: (49-89) 212154-0 – fax: 2289469 – Email: info@sogde.org – Internet: http://www.sogde.org ). 2016, 194 p. €12.
This edition of Südosteuropa Mitteilungen contains an important feature article on the expectations, hopes and concerns of the younger generation in 11 South eastern European countries. The third Western Balkans Summit stated in its final declaration that, “improving the prospects for the younger generations is of crucial importance to ensuring stability, sustainable development and progress in the region”. It is in an effort to check whether this message has indeed been understood that the young authors of the countries concerned have been invited to express themselves in this publication. What are their hopes with regard to the future of their countries of origin? Is there sufficient opportunity for them to obtain a good education and possibly a job to earn their living? How do they perceive the possible rapprochement of their countries with the European Union? In what way do they express their discontent with the status quo and their desire for change? What are the options they see: conformism, protest against the establishment or finding a solution abroad? These are some of the questions to which answers are provided from Bulgaria, Romania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovakia, Kosovo, Moldova, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Albania and Greece. (PBo)
*** SOTIRIS CHTOURIS (Editor): Les jeunes dans la Grèce d'aujourd'hui. Le statut social, le travail et les réseaux sociaux dans l'ère de la génération G. Editions Epikentro (9 rue Kamvounion, GR-54621 Salonika. Tel: (30-231) 0256146 – fax: 0256148 – Internet: http://www.epikentro.gr ). 2017, 330 pp. €17. ISBN 978-960-458681-3.
This study focuses on the social and cultural characteristics of a group of young people in Greece. The analysis leads to a new understanding of the social concept of youth and avoids certain propositions regarding the political “construction” of youth through employment programmes and the official statistics of the state. Under the editorial supervision of a sociologist Sotiris Chtouris, a professor at the University of the Aegean, who is also active in the Urban Society Network, the academic authors of this publication, undertake this endeavour into understanding youth and, more precisely, the youth in their original social and cultural identity, whilst also getting to grips with certain contemporary social phenomena that influence these factors. Therefore, clarification is provided with regard to the situation characterising the transition from school-to-work and in this connection they put forward a new theoretical approach based on the data they have gathered in their “In 4 Youth” research. The problems of unemployment and poverty, as well as job prospects and wellbeing are unsurprisingly central themes in this book. The main innovation contained in this book, however, can be located in the new methodological model for quality research that the authors have updated by using discussion groups and collective interviews. It should also be pointed out that the book contains comparative graphs for the different social groups and a comprehensive bibliography. (AKa)
*** DESPINA PAPADOPOULOU, NIKOS KOURAHANIS: Les sans-abri et l'exclusion sociale dans la Grèce de la crise. Editions Topos (2 rue Plapouta, GR-11473 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 8222835 – fax: 8222684 – Email: info@motibo.com – Internet: http://www.toposbooks.gr ). 2017, 176 pp. €13.90. ISBN 978-960-499-221-8.
This book looks at the process of social exclusion reflected in the lives of the poor and the way in which social policies generally manage this situation: lives that do not benefit from civilised life as considered as such and built by the founders of modernity, urban culture and, above all, the postwar consensus. The two authors Professor Despina Papadopoulou teaches “the sociology of exclusion and social change” and Nikos Kourahanis is a lecturer in social policy at the Pantheon University of Athens. They explain that these lives have been made invisible, even though they are in reality, alas, all too real. They point out the failings of modern capitalist democracies that are supposed to respond to the fundamental demands of the social contract they signed. The proliferation of these lives during the crisis is the sombre face of the policies of austerity that signed up to the withdrawal of the welfare and social state. It subsequently transpires that not all citizens benefit from equal opportunities or the same access to the resources and prospects for redistribution that could help mitigate social inequality. Therefore, these “naked lives” proliferate and their proliferation suggests that the “new” so-called social policy in gestation does not seek to underpin the greatest achievement of the republic, social citizenship, but rather the preparation for managing human survival... (AKa)
*** GEORGIOS BITHIMITRIS : Le marché, la classe sociale, la société : une recherche de l’identité du mouvement syndicaliste. Editions Gutemberg (37 rue Didotou GR-10680 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3642003 – fax: 3642030 – Email: info@dardanosnet.gr). 2017, 250 pp. €12. ISBN 978-960-01-1790-5.
Are trade unions organisations of public interest? Is the main aim of trade unions the education of social classes, ensuring social inclusion, carrying out negotiations? This book provides a comparative approach to the trade union movement. Its author looks at the triple identity innate in this subject in the perspectives of economics, social arena and politics. His aim is therefore to provide an analytical and interdisciplinary framework that helps highlight the simultaneously complex and dynamic nature of the trade unions’ objective. Examination of the historic context and theoretical approaches are combined with the study of data, particularly with regard to cultural identity. The different examples highlight the importance of culture and the representation of work. In practice, Professor Bithimitris (faculty of social and political sciences at the Pantheon University of Athens) seeks to provide an understanding of the transformations of collective identity within the working class and which are been produced over the recent economic crisis. Its goal is therefore to highlight the different factors that would help to revitalise the trade union movement. (AKa)