Working at leisure: critical geographies of ageing

Abstract

Summary Though the usefulness of ‘leisure’ as an analytical category is in itself problematic, exploring individual experiences of leisure may demonstrate how representations of ageing are embodied and emplaced. Qualitative interviews with 21 residents (over 60 years of age) of a provincial city in New Zealand/Aotearoa illustrate that constructions of ageing as idleness, dependency, inactivity and infirmity may be contested through engaging in leisure activities. Though leisure discourses are associated with notions of freedom, resistance to ageing and ageism may be constrained by constructions of leisure as work.