Ideological Underpinnings of the World Assembly on Aging

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Abstract
The 1982 World Assembly on Aging was convened to launch an international plan of action aimed at guaranteeing economic and social security to older persons, as well as opportunities for them to contribute to national development. The Plan of Action was to be considered as an integral component of major international development strategies and programs which have been formulated in response to important world problems and needs. This paper examines the background documents on aging prepared by the United Nations for world wide regional meetings held before the Assembly. It argues that the issues raised were restricted to a “social problems” perspective on aging which is congruent with the modernization theory of development. The economic and political dependency of Third World countries was ignored. As a result, the discussion and recommendations emerging from the regional meetings, in both developed and underdeveloped areas, focused only on policies and programs similar to those in industrialized countries. This paper concludes that such programs are irrelevant to the lives of most people as they age.

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