Older people: the engine of post-industrial social movements. The citizen tide of pensioners and retirees in Spain and the Stuttgart 21 movement in Germany

Abstract

Political influence depends on the position in socio-economic structure. Retired seniors have restricted their opportunities to influence the community's decision-making processes because of the breakup with the employment relationship. Moreover, dialogical speeches about elderly built categories and negative representations of the elderly based on prejudices and stereotypes. Social movements are a fundamental vehicle of social change where older people have not traditionally played a leading role. However, in the last decade, social movements led by older people have appeared. This work explored the emergence of these movements in two study contexts: Spain and Germany. The methodology consists in an ethnographic approach to the phenomenon of social participation of the elderly through the comparative study of cases. We identify differences and similarities between both movements that address social, cultural, historical and contextual factors closely related to the idiosyncrasy of being a senior citizen in post-industrial societies.