‘Being old’ and ‘feeling old’ in contemporary Italy: Active ageing and COVID-19

Over the last 20 years, ageing has been studied through the lens of an active ageing perspective, which considers older adults as responsible for their own conditions. However, the COVID-19 health emergency has highlighted its limits. Drawing on a sample of semi-structured interviews – collected before and during the pandemic – with people aged 65 years and above who are self-sufficient and live in Turin, Italy, this article explores the representations and perceptions of ageing, to highlight the possible effects of the COVID-19 emergency. The results show that representations of ageing revolve around two fundamental viewpoints: one considers older adults as a cost for the community because of their unproductiveness; the other overlaps the loss of self-sufficiency with a definition of ‘real’ old age. Furthermore, the interviews introduce a distinction between those who – considered productive despite their age – were called to provide a service to the community during the lockdown, and those who were judged vulnerable because of their age. Such ambiguous messages have raised new questions about an active and successful ageing imperative.