Abstract
Older people in Poland often describe and experience old age as a time in the life course marked by discrimination and marginalization. In this postsocialist context, a still-dominant Cold-War logic links older people to the devalued socialist past and younger people to the present and future of the Polish nation-state. Contemporary media portray old age as defined by physical and mental decline and social isolation. The most visible challenge to such temporal, bodily, and social exclusion occurs through Universities of the Third Age, where older people learn new skills, cultivate hobbies, and explicitly theorize growing old as a positive phase of life. Drawing on twenty months of ethnographic research, this article traces key sociocultural, political-economic, and historical factors that contribute to discrimination against and empowerment of older people in Poland. By analyzing national politics and media representations of old age together with ethnographic data from Universities of the Third Age, this article highlights the practices through which older Poles feel themselves to be transformed in old age—and asks who may be excluded from such practices—thus contributing to gerontological discussions of “active aging” and anthropological understandings of sociality in late life.
Highlights
In contemporary Poland, older people often describe and experience old age as a time in the life course marked by discrimination and marginalization
Old age is often portrayed in negative terms, defined by physical and mental decline and social isolation, and often couched in the language of demographic fear (Wilińska and Cedersund 2010, Zierkiewicz and Łysak 2005). This cultural devaluation and marginalization of older people is associated with national political-economic shifts that have occurred during the lifetimes of the oldest generations in Poland, in which older people have become socioeconomically disadvantaged (Calasanti and Zajicek 1997, Synak 2003, Trafiałek 2003)
This article highlights the practices through which older Poles feel themselves to be transformed in old age—and asks who may be excluded from such practices— contributing to gerontological discussions of “active aging” and anthropological understandings of sociality in late life
Summary
In contemporary Poland, older people often describe and experience old age as a time in the life course marked by discrimination and marginalization. Old age is often portrayed in negative terms, defined by physical and mental decline and social isolation, and often couched in the language of demographic fear (Wilińska and Cedersund 2010, Zierkiewicz and Łysak 2005) This cultural devaluation and marginalization of older people is associated with national political-economic shifts that have occurred during the lifetimes of the oldest generations in Poland, in which older people have become socioeconomically disadvantaged (Calasanti and Zajicek 1997, Synak 2003, Trafiałek 2003). Understanding the discursive links between older people and the Polish nation demonstrates the moral stakes of older people’s participation in Universities of the Third Age in Poland. This article highlights the practices through which older Poles feel themselves to be transformed in old age—and asks who may be excluded from such practices— contributing to gerontological discussions of “active aging” and anthropological understandings of sociality in late life
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