Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-rdgjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-07T19:49:36.391Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 7 - Microgenesis

Daily Activities, Encounters and Vital Engagements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2026

Tania Zittoun
Affiliation:
University of Neuchâtel
Get access

Summary

This chapter approaches the concrete, everyday lives of older persons in the Vineyard region. We examine how people living in towns, in villages, alone or in shared housing, organise their lives. Daily trajectories, typical interactions, everyday encounters are described. The chapter first examines informal encounters and networks, daily interactions, occasional meetings, and the importance of social interactions. Both the role of ‘lighthouse watcher’ and tenuous ties are put to the fore. Second, the chapter follows interactions taking place in an institutional setting, a day-care centre. Here also, people can develop meaningful activities and reveal their engagements, while the frame can offer a containing function. Altogether, this chapter shows how evolving material, social and symbolic environments are deeply related to people’s development in older age.

Information

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Microgenesis
  • Tania Zittoun, University of Neuchâtel
  • Book: Developing in Older Age
  • Online publication: 16 April 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009504669.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Microgenesis
  • Tania Zittoun, University of Neuchâtel
  • Book: Developing in Older Age
  • Online publication: 16 April 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009504669.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Microgenesis
  • Tania Zittoun, University of Neuchâtel
  • Book: Developing in Older Age
  • Online publication: 16 April 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009504669.008
Available formats
×