The Aging of Aquarius
The Hippies of the 60s in Their 60s and Beyond

Presents the first study on aging hippies and offers many new insights about wellbeing in later life.

Galit Nimrod (Author)

9781009304078, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 December 2022

292 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.1 cm, 0.58 kg

'… readers … will have the opportunity to reflect on how culture, encompassing both its ideological and practical aspects, influences the ageing process. Moreover, lay readers can contemplate how they can enhance their own ageing experiences by embracing certain elements of the “hippie way of life” including a strong sense of community, a connection with nature or a focus on spirituality. … an engrossing, easy-to-read book.' Feliciano Villar, Ageing & Society

There is no group of individuals more iconic of 1960s counterculture than the hippies – the long-haired, colorfully dressed youth who rebelled against mainstream societal values, preached and practiced love and peace, and generally sought more meaningful and authentic lives. These 'flower children' are now over sixty and comprise a significant part of the older population in the United States. While some hippies rejoined mainstream American society as they grew older, others still maintain the hippie ideology and lifestyle. This book is the first to explore the aging experience of older hippies by examining aspects related to identity, generativity, daily activities, spirituality, community, end-of-life care, and wellbeing. Based on 40 in-depth interviews with lifelong, returning, and past residents of The Farm, an intentional community in Tennessee that was founded in 1971 and still exists today, insights into the subculture of aging hippies and their keys to wellbeing are shared.

1. Introduction
2. The hippies
3. The Farm
4. Once a hippie, always a hippie
5. Still changing the world
6. Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll?
7. The aging of the New Agers
8. Lifelong community
9. Alternative end of life
10. Aging differently
Appendix
Endnotes
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Geriatric medicine [MJX], Psychology of ageing [JMD], Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Sociology [JHB]