Blurring The Boundaries

"At first glance, Jack Levin's book, Blurring the Boundaries: The Declining Significance of Age, promises to be a brief monograph about the growing irrelevance of chronological age as a meaningful "yardstick" that guides the unfolding of our lives. Life course research has had its ear to the growth of age irrelevance for a while now—many researchers attending to the relationship between social location and the timing of particular events and transitions. Blurring the Boundaries, however, covers a broader range of territory than the title suggests. Levin's book provides an analysis of how a variety of normative behaviors and transitions, some associated with certain chronological ages and particular stages of life, have shifted over the past five decades. A secondary yet powerful theme attends to the role of the early baby boomers (i.e., those born between 1946 and 1955) as harbingers of these changes. Levin interweaves personal vignettes throughout his narrative, which focuses primarily on the behaviors and transitions associated with children and young adults. This book is an appealing selection for scholars of aging and the life course because Levin's analyses incorporate several dimensions of age, including chronological age, period, cohort, and life stage."

—Social Forces (2013)

"Levin’s slim book packs some provocative punches, including its central thesis: that many features of American life today—good and bad—can be traced to the early baby boomers and the turbulence of the 1960s. In relaxing the rules, boomers liberated us from chains of tradition, permitting us to craft our lives as we wish and breaking down ageism, sexism, and racism. But in cutting us free, boomers also unleashed the range of morally acceptable conduct and tolerable incivilities. It doesn’t matter whether you love or loathe the boomers: this book is sure to push your buttons."

—Richard A. Settersten, Jr., Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, Oregon State University

"Using the first wave of the baby boomers as a starting point to analyze changes in American social norms since the 1960s, Levin has written an entertaining, provocative, and pithy account of how we moved from the Age of Aquarius to the age of gender equality, grade inflation, and incivility. Using personal anecdotes to engage readers in an already well-written text, this is an excellent addition to any reading list on a variety of courses, especially Sociology of the Life Course, Social Gerontology, or Sociology of Aging."

—Elizabeth W. Markson, Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University

"I marvel at Levin’s ability to provide just the right blend between personal vignettes and factual material on the various issues addressed. This is done in such a way to draw students in without overwhelming them. Once started this is not a book readers will want to put down."

—John B. Williamson, Sociology, Boston College

This book is about much more than the title implies. Among other things, it deals with the Baby Boomers, ageism, the Youth Cult, sex, cheating, and all written with a sprightly style that makes it easy to read. He backs up his observations with juicy examples as well as hard statistics. It is a "must read" for social gerontologists as well as recommended reading for social scientists, modern historians, educators, counselors, social workers, and parents. —Erdman Palmore, MedicalSociology, Duke University

In this compelling book, Dr. Jack Levin makes a convincing argument about the sociological forces that lie behind the contemporary waning of age norms, from infancy to late adulthood. Written in an engaging and clear narrative style, this is an indispensable book for any university course on the sociology of aging"—Marta Rodríguez-Galán, Sociology, St. John Fisher College

Jack Levin has written a thought-provoking, incisive, and powerful analysis of the implications of the blurring of traditional age boundaries, and the social significance of an age-related social problem of our time. He highlights the problems and provides solutions for solving them. There is something in this well-researched book is for everyone who is interested in our children, and the future generations of this country. A must-read book in and outside the classroom.—Augustine A. Aryee, Sociology, Fitchburg State University

" very much enjoyed Blurring the Boundaries and believe it makes a valuable contribution… Levin has crafted a volume that both scholars and the general public couldlearn from.— Ralph LaRossa, PhD, Georgia State University