In March 2004, I attended the Inaugural International Conference on Longevity at the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre in Darling Harbour. Visiting this event was, for me, a way of taking stock of what it means to live in an ageing society. As a cultural researcher interested in the interactions between demographic shifts, capitalist globalisation and changing forms of political power, the prospect of a direct encounter with the debates and practices surrounding the burgeoning field of anti-ageing medicine promised a means to observe the complex cultural dynamics of population ageing in action. Cultivating an interest in anti-ageing medicine, I realised, would likely project me in several different directions at once: liaising with policy experts with interests in ageing, interviewing affluent appearance-conscious women in their forties, holding my own in erudite discussions with philosophers and political theorists, reading up on medical journals to address audiences of gerontologists, conversing with activists about the significance of population ageing for global finance or border control, responding with an all-too-ironic sardonicism when asked about my research over coffee or at a party. 2006 C1 Yes
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