A gerontologia e a velhice como uma expressão da questão social: a atuação política das entidades científicas do envelhecimento

Abstract

This paper analyzes the performance of scientific entities of gerontology and geriatrics in political-institutional mediation between the supposed demands of the elderly population and the formulation of public policies and laws specific to old age in Brazil. Regarded as legitimate authorities in the production of scientific discourse on aging, these entities act as representatives of the elderly with the State and civil society, contributing to the construction of new definitions of old age, such as the third age. Based on the new resources and treatment techniques made possible by the health sciences, the ideological character of the term third age ends up reinventing old age and, more than preventing it, ends up denying it. This research used the qualitative method, with interviews, document analysis and participant observation. The theoretical framework used in the analyzes was Marxism, also called historical materialism. Finally, it was found that the scientific entities of gerontology and geriatrics act in a corporatist way, disregarding fundamental demands of the elderly, such as improving the purchasing power of retirement. With this, the debate on the social question in capitalist society is rekindled, with impoverished old age being a direct expression of the clash between capital and work.