Cluster Leader Kavita Sivaramakrishnan’s Book Published

April 25, 2018

Kavita Sivaramakrishnan’s (Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health and Interim Co-Director, Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center) new book “As the World Ages – Rethinking a Demographic Crisis” has been published by Harvard University Press.

People are living longer, creating an unexpected boom in the elderly population. Longevity is increasing not only in wealthy countries but in developing nations as well. In response, many policy makers and scholars are preparing for a global crisis of aging. But for too long, Western experts have conceived of aging as a universal predicament – one that supposedly provokes the same welfare concerns in every context. In the twenty-first century, Kavita Sivaramakrishnan writes, we must embrace a new approach to the problem, one that prioritizes local agendas and values.

Professor Sivaramakrishnan is a member of the Center for Science and Society’s Steering Committee and co-leads the Global Histories of Science Research Cluster.