Are you an over 60 activist?

7 May 2008

OLDER ACTIVISTS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

We are undertaking research with Queen Margaret University into the experiences of older people who are or have been active in social movements. We want to record the experiences of people who are now age 60 or over and who have been active in one of a range of social movements in Scotland for a number of years. We hope to compare those experiences with older people who have become active after retirement.

The social movements which we are interested in are:

The Women’s Movement
The Peace Movement
Marxist / Communist Movements
The Student Movement of the 1960s and 1970s
Older People’s Advocacy Movements from the late 1990s


CAN YOU HELP?
You may be or have been involved in one of these social movements, or you may know people who are.

What are we interested in?
We want to explore the extent to which age is a factor which influences involvement in activist politics at different stages of life. We want to know how motivation changes over time and whether the contexts for activism change as people get older. We are not looking for memories of specific events or a record of the history of the movement. Our interest is in the experiences of individual older activists.

Recruitment
We want to interview 5 people from each of the social movements. We also want a geographical spread and a good age- range – as long as participants are over 60. We are also looking for a mixture of men and women and people from different parts of the movements.

Method
The method which we are using is designed so that the older people who we are interviewing will also be able to contribute to interpreting the interviews. If you were to participate in the research you will be involved in the following process:
• A pre-interview meeting with a researcher at an agreed location;
• An interview by the researcher, which will be video-recorded
• You will be given a copy of the video of the interview and asked to watch it and reflect on what you have said.
• Another videoed interview in which you can add to or amend your comments.

Time commitment
Participants will need to give time for a pre-interview discussion, then two 1 ½ hour filmed sessions. There will be additional time needed for people to look at the first video and reflect on what they have said before the second filmed interview.



THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT
We want to interview women aged 60 or over who have been involved in some aspect of the women’s movement for 15 years or more. This could be women who were involved in the 1960s and 70s or 80s or could be women who are currently involved.



Eurig Scandrett, Lecturer in Sociology, Queen Margaret University

Susan Moffat, Researcher



Replies to:
susanmoffat@tiscali.co.uk

or by post to:

Susan Moffat
Leuchie North Lodge
North Berwick
EH39 5NT

Tel. 01620 895268