This commission seeks to bring together anthropologists from across the world who have an interest in questions regarding how humans grow up and grow old. We encourage diverse approaches that bridge the bio-social divide, and that critically examine historically and culturally situated discourses of aging and the life course across diverse contexts. Our research addresses a wide variety of topics, including, biosocial and ecological influences on health and wellbeing across the life course; the relationships between aging, disability, and chronic conditions; the effects of age-related demographic changes on political and social institutions; the ritual, spiritual, and artistic contributions of older people; the care of and by older people; the effects of aging on global mobilities (including older refugees and displaced persons, global care migration, transnational care, etc.); end-of-life and death; inter-generational relations, places of ageing (housing, institutional settings, and community integration); personhood and dementia; ageism and structural violence, and intersections of age and race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality.

The need for an anthropology that not only recognizes the value of older people’s knowledge and perspectives, but also critically engages with the discursive constructions of aging is more important than ever. Worldwide, people over the age of 60 are the fastest growing demographic group, and by mid-century, 80% of this group will be living in low and middle-income countries, mostly in the global south. The Covid-19 pandemic showed us all the disproportionate effects of disease on older people, particularly in contexts of long-standing neglect. Global warming continues to have similarly devastating effects on older people. Despite this, the UN has still not ratified a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, and humanitarian and development organizations often lack the expertise and ability to address the needs of vulnerable older people. Anthropology offers urgently needed research to address global issues and improve the lives of people of all ages.