Konstruování představ aktivního stárnutí v centrech pro seniory

Abstract

Current demographic trends are calling forth the need to redefine the meaning of old age and its place in society. The concept of active ageing can be seen as a reaction to these efforts to reconceptualise life in old age. This article first briefly describes the context that gave rise to the term ‘active ageing’ and how this concept is framed as ‘ageing well’ in national and international documents and in the discourse of gerontology. Based on ethnographic studies of two centres offering leisure activities for seniors (mainly using participant observation and in-depth and informal interviews with clients and employees), the article shows 1) how the idea of active ageing and generally of being active as an desirable or undesirable lifestyle in old age is constructed in the framework of the centre’s general operations, and 2) how the clients themselves relate to this idea. The objective of the article is to reveal the significance of active ageing in the formation of a normative image of ‘ageing well’, which on the one hand helps seniors break away from stereotypical notions of ageing, but on the other hand generates new inequalities based on the ability or willingness to ‘age actively’.