Parfenova O., Galkin K. (2023) Sotsial’naya aktivnost’ i uchastiye pozhilykh rossiyan v kontekste aktivnogo dolgoletiya [Social activity and participation of older Russians in the context of active ageing]. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii [The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology], 26(1): 200–223 (in Russian). https: ...

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Abstract

The article analyzes the social activity and participation of older people in the context of active ageing. The research task was to reconstruct the repertoire of social activity/ participation of today’s older Russians and the meanings they put into this activity, and to answer the question of how this activity fits into the concept of active aging (longevity). In the analysis, we focused on practices and the meanings attributed to them among the two age groups of informants. The results obtained were compared with the Active Aging Index (AAI) as the most popular tool for determining the activity of the older people. The empirical base consisted of 28 in-depth interviews with people over 60 years (14 with working and 14 with non-working). The data of our study demonstrate a much richer repertoire of social activity and participation of the older than the that is supposed to be calculated within the framework of the AAI. The repertoire of activity is influenced by age after 75+ forms of activity becomes less and it drifts towards private life (family, caring for grandchildren and relatives) «dacha» deals, leaving of lost opportunities. The older age 75+ do not try to return to their previous activities, but, on the contrary, strive for a daily routine and involvement in family affairs, as well as various daily activities and hobbies that allow them to feel involved in social life. Postponement of aging in the age 60+ group is associated with maintaining activity at the level of middle age and active replacement of lost activities of the employment. The prescriptive and formalized nature of the indexes (in particular, AAI) does not take into account the really existing wide repertoire of social activity and participation of the older, and also does not allow reconstructing individual meanings and values of activity and linking it all with overall life satisfaction.