Abstract
This article discusses the historical emergence of notions of old age and third age as identity categories linked to the process of ageing. Their emergence can be understood as a result of a complex combination of factors such as medical and social knowledge, management agents, political movements and economic interests. By taking old age and third age as historically determined age identities, we seek to trace out the formation of these identities the article analizes the factors that determined their emergence and how they have grown and gained legitimacy. As an age category, 'old age' has its roots mainly in medical knowledge specialized in the study of the aged body, and the appearance of retirement. The 'third age' age category derives mainly from the specialization of the agents of management for ageing, the advocatory discourse of social gerontology and the interests of the consumer culture. These are the categories that are currently available to identify, define and, more recently, transform the process of contemporary ageing.
Highlights
The unmistakable ageing of the population is a topic that has received attention from many fields of culture, becoming the subject of discussion and throwing up a mixture of innovations and challenges for the collective management of social ‘issues’
The analysis of the development of these notions presents us with intricate webs that combine medical knowledge, management agents and experts with the emergence of age identities that are part of our cultural imaginary, but in many ways will dictate the terms by which we describe ourselves and our lives
In sketching this historical narrative about the notions of old age and third age, we have highlighted certain factors, especially ones that derive from the fields of sociology and anthropology
Summary
The ‘third age’ age category derives mainly from the specialization of the agents of management for ageing, the advocatory discourse of social gerontology and the interests of the consumer culture These are the categories that are currently available to identify, define and, more recently, transform the process of contemporary ageing. The need to understand this process of change in contemporary ageing has led us to reflect upon the categories of identity and terms used to describe this period that an increasing number of individuals goes through We deemed it necessary to trace the historical course of the notions of old age and third age so as to comprehend how these identities were formed, the factors that gave rise to them and what features currently define them. The analysis of the development of these notions presents us with intricate webs that combine medical knowledge, management agents and experts with the emergence of age identities that are part of our cultural imaginary, but in many ways will dictate the terms by which we describe ourselves and our lives
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