Generativity, Aging, and Communities in Mexico

Abstract

Abstract This chapter aims to analyze how the phenomenon of generativity fits into research on aging in Mexico. To achieve this objective, it will review four best practices where specific elements of generative behavior are observed, practices that are good examples for understanding the phenomenon of generativity in later life in the Mexican context: (1) the community organizations and those of civil society; (2) the transnational support networks established between undocumented migrants in the United States and their relatives in Mexico; (3) the collective support practices effected in indigenous communities and in pre-Hispanic towns inhabited in large part by descendants of the original peoples; and (4) the social movements of women and sexual diversity. The chapter will discuss the implications of such generative practices and reflect on the applicability of the concept to aging processes as seen in Mexico, taking into account the specific features, facilitators, and barriers of such a cultural context.