Participation dynamics in old age. From traditional associationism to non-membership activism

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the dynamics of social participation of the elderly. The study focuses on how context and cultural frameworks affect the participatory practices of older people. We conducted a comparative study between the cases of Germany and Spain as representations of two different cultural frameworks. The findings show differences in the participation model of the elderly between Germany and Spain. These differences base on the roles that each cultural framework attributes to the elderly and the degree of institutionalization of structures of participation in old age.