Lifetimes of Commitment Ageing, Politics, Psychology

This book is an exploration of the ways in which political belief is developed and sustained throughout the course of a lifetime. Through extensive interviews, it focuses on the lives of fifteen British men and women, aged between seventy and ninety, who have dedicated half a century or longer to working for social change and justice. From Dorothy Greenald's commitment to provision of adequate housing for prisoners' families to Walter Gregory's active service in the Spanish Civil War and Trevor Huddleston's vital role in the international Anti-Apartheid Movement, these men and women have been involved in both local and international struggles. Respondents discuss topics ranging from the importance of gender identity for their political activism, to their perceptions of recent events in Eastern Europe. The work is unusual in combining an investigation of individual lifelong political commitment with a wider consideration of the formation of social identity, aging and the interplay between individuals and their environment. Lifetimes of commitment will have a wide appeal amongst social psychologists, sociologists, social and oral historians and political scientists.

1. Defying the stereotype; 2. The potential of social identity theory; 3. On the subject of subjectivity; 4. Personal stories; 5. A nation in turmoil: Britain between the wars; 6. Radicalization: coming to commitment; 7. Political conviction and the social self; 8. Growing into socialism.

This book is an exploration of the ways in which political belief is developed and sustained throughout the course of a lifetime. Through extensive interviews, it focuses on the lives of fifteen British men and women, aged between seventy and ninety, who have dedicated half a century or longer to working for social change and justice.