Grandmotherhood

The Evolutionary Significance of the Second Half of Female Life
Erscheinungsjahr 2005
ISBN: 978-0-8135-7141-6
Verlag: Rutgers University Press

Buch, Englisch, 354 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 233 mm, Gewicht: 502 g

By the year 2030, the average life expectancy of women in industrialized countries could reach ninety - exceeding that of men by about ten years. At the present time, postmenopausal women represent more than fifteen percent of the world’s population and this figure is likely to grow.

From an evolutionary perspective, these demographic numbers pose some intriguing questions. Darwinian theory holds that a successful life is measured in terms of reproduction. How is it, then, that a woman’s lifespan can greatly exceed her childbearing and childrearing years? Bringing together theoretical and empirical work by internationally recognized scholars in anthropology,psychology, ethnography, and the social sciences, Grandmotherhood explores the evolutionary purpose and possibilities of female post-generative life.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Voland, Eckart

Chasiotis, Anthanasios

Schiefenhovel, Wulf

Über Autor(innen)

Eckart Voland is a professor of biophilosophy at the Institute of Philosophy and Foundations of Science at the University of Giessen in Germany.

Athanasios Chasiotis is an associate professor at the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Tilburg University, the Netherlands.

Wulf Schiefenhövel is the head of the human ethology group, Max-Planck-Institute, Andechs/Seewiesen in Germany and a professor of medical psychology and ethnomedicine at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany.