The Idea of Social Activity for Older People – Local Policy Implementation

Table Of Contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Figures and Photographs
• Tables
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• CHAPTER 1 The context of social activity for older people at the local level
• 1.1. Social activity of older people within aging policy
• Aging policies in the Polish literature and discourse
• Locality of aging policies
• 1.2. Urban ageing
• Urban studies
• Ageing in cities—Social activity of older people in city
• Aging vs. population aging—twofold influence of social activity
• Dimensions of older people’s social activity
• 1.3. The idea and the process of policy implementation
• Institutional origins of idea analysis in social policy
• Discursive institutionalism and the role of ideas
• Implementation process and Ideational analysis
• CHAPTER 2 Theoretical framework
• 2.1. Actor-network theory
• Actor-network theory framework
• Application of actor-network theory
• ANT in the city
• 2.2. Glocalization
• From global to glocal
• Glocal and the politics of scale
• CHAPTER 3 Research design
• 3.1. Case study
• 3.2. Data collection
• Observation
• Interview
• Additional materials
• 3.3. Data analysis
• Coding process and category building
• CHAPTER 4 Results and conclusions
• 4.1. Social activity enacted—how does social activity happen in Poznan?
• 4.1.1. Why do you care?
• Interests
• Obligations
• Measures
• Reasons come by themselves
• 4.1.2. Entering the network
• Looking for the support
• In search of sites
• Positioning
• Casting the net
• 4.1.3. Vehicles of social activity
• Seduction
• Engaged social activity
• Commission to actants
• To kill two birds with one stone
• 4.1.4. Desired product
• Live full of events
• Acting for others
• Endurance of relations
• Proliferation of networks
• 4.1.5. Conclusions
• 4.2. Ontologies of social activity implementation
• 4.2.1. Weaving the network
• 4.2.2. Providing a service
• 4.2.3. Responding to the aging crisis
• 4.2.4. Using space
• Conclusions
• 4.3. Scales of Social activity Implementation
• 4.3.1. Initiation of social activity
• Grassroots initiatives
• External forces
• 4.3.2. Execution of social activity
• Carried within a project
• Carried out locally
• 4.3.3. Resources mining
• Market-based resources
• Public-based resources
• Individual-based resources
• 4.3.4. The embeddedness of social activity
• Lack of affiliation
• Belonging
• Conclusion
• 4.4. Conclusions
• 4.4.1. What?
• 4.4.2. How?
• 4.4.3. New research perspectives and practical implication
• Limitation
• Bibliography
• Appendices
• Appendix 1. The list of data sources
• Appendix 2. Interview guide
• Appendix 3. Field notes
• Appendix 4. The stages of the analysis
• Appendix 5. An example of coding process in Atlas.ti

Halina Nadobnik

The Idea of Social Activity
for Older People –
Local Policy Implementation

Berlin · Bruxelles · Chennai · Lausanne · New York · Oxford

Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available online at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2025033904

ISSN 2191-8848

ISBN 978-3-631-93818-8 (Print)

ISBN 978-3-631-93819-5 (E-PDF)

ISBN 978-3-631-94249-9 (E-PUB)

DOI 10.3726/b23164

© 2026 Peter Lang Group AG, Lausanne (Switzerland)

Published by Peter Lang GmbH, Berlin (Germany)

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To my grandmother

Halina

Contents

Figures and Photographs

Tables

Acknowledgements

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 The context of social activity for older people at the local level

CHAPTER 2 Theoretical framework

CHAPTER 3 Research design

CHAPTER 4 Results and conclusions

Bibliography

Appendices

Figures and Photographs

Figure 1: The development of paradigms and theories within gerontology

Figure 2: The changing perception of city in urban studies

Figure 3: Ambiguity-conflict matrix: policy implementation processes

Figure 4: Glocal space

Figure 5: Coding process and applied codes

Figure 6: The stages of the analysis

Photograph 1: Halls of VIVA Older Citizens Fairs. Visitors marching from stall to stall, established by firms, travel agencies, public bodies, or non-governmental organisations

Photograph 2: Leaflet from a company offering gas valves recommended for use in the homes of dependent people with memory impairments

Photograph 3: The members of older citizens’ club produce charity greeting cards. They do it during VIVA Older Citizens Fairs

Photograph 4: Photographs of leaflets collected during the VIVA Older Citizens’ Fair. They advertise a tourist office dedicated to older people, which offers domestic and foreign trips. Their clients are active older people

Photograph 5: Fragment of a leaflet of the University of the Third Age, organized by the Poznan University of Life Sciences

Photograph 6: A tour of the Museum of Applied Arts in Poznan, organized as part of the Older Citizens’ Days

Photograph 7: A tour of the Museum of Applied Arts in Poznan organized as part of the Older Citizens’ Days

Photograph 8: Leaflet advertising the Muza cinema as the Older Citizen’s cinema

Photograph 9: Excerpts from the bulletin of the Poznan Local Tourist Organization, offering trips in and around Poznan for older people

Tables

Table 1: The classification of aging policies in Polish literature and policy practice

Table 2: Analysis of societal and individual levels, along with the factors that promote and restrict the social engagement of older adults in urban environments

Table 3: Contexts of social activity for older people implemented on the city level

Table 4: Moments of translation

Table 5: Policy research with ANT application

Table 6: The glocalization concept within management and political studies

Table 7: Research objectives and their realization

Table 8: Collected data

Table 9: The applied codes and categories during data analysis

Table 10: The names used in the empirical chapters

Table 11: Moments of translation

Table 12: Criteria within the framework of the open call for proposals for activities related to people of retirement age

Table 13: The proposed results and their indicators

Table 14: Ontologies of social activity for older people implementation