Productivity, care, and cultural identity in the case of semi-institutional ageing

Čermelj, Maruša (author), Podjed, Dan (mentor)

This thesis examines the complex and often contradictory societal attitudes toward ageing, focusing on the experiences of older adults within an adult day care centre in Slovenia. Against the backdrop of widespread marginalisation and neoliberal narratives that shift elder care from the public to the private sphere, it critically analyses how dominant discourses around successful ageing, productivity, and autonomy obscure the gendered dimensions of caregiving and the risks of over-individualisation. It explores the liminal space between institutional and non-institutional care, highlighting how the centre navigates these tensions by avoiding paternalisation and motivating the elderly through work narratives. The study also addresses how cultural identity is negotiated within the community. Through this analysis, the thesis offers insights into the intersections of care, responsibility, identity, and cultural belonging within ageing in a semi-institutional frame.

• Language: English
• Keywords: ageing, adult day care centre, work narratives, paternalisation, care, cultural identity, neoliberalism, successful ageing
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2025
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-174309
• Publication date in RUL: 01.10.2025

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Produktivnost, oskrba in kulturna identiteta pri delno institucionaliziranem staranju

Abstract

Magistrsko delo raziskuje kompleksen in pogosto nasprotujoč si družbeni odnos do staranja s poudarkom na izkušnjah starejših odraslih v dnevnem centru za starejše v Sloveniji. Kritično analizira prevladujoče razprave o uspešnem staranju, produktivnosti in avtonomiji, ki v okviru neoliberalnih tendenc pogosto spregledajo spolno neenakopravnost v oskrbovalnem delu in tveganja pretirane individualizacije. Raziskava se osredotoča na liminalni prostor med institucionalno in neinstitucionalno oskrbo, pri čemer izpostavlja načine, kako se v obravnavanem dnevnem centru izogibajo paternalizmu ter starejše motivirajo skozi narative dela. Poseben poudarek je namenjen kulturnim identitetam in njihovi vlogi v omenjeni skupnosti. Z analizo teh dinamik magistrsko delo prispeva k boljšemu razumevanju presečišč oskrbe, odgovornosti, identitete in kulturne pripadnosti v procesu staranja v delno institucionalni obliki.

• Keywords: staranje, dnevni centri za starejše, narativ dela, paternalizem, kulturna identiteta, neoliberalizem, uspešno staranje