(RE)Significação da velhice no cenário neoliberal: direito ou um fardo social?

Abstract

The present study primarily aims to analyze the implications of the Social Assistance Policy for old age, considering the living conditions of elderly people residing in the Itaqui-Bacanga Region who are served by the CRAS Anjo da Guarda. Based on the method of historicaldialectical materialism, the study starts from the conception of old age and aging as a social category that is not limited to biological factors but is influenced by various determinants that shape a given social reality. Using the sociability of capital as a reference, it is discussed that the stages of human life come to be interpreted from a productivist perspective, in which the value of the individual is defined according to their ability to meet the demands of capital. Thus, those who lose this utility suffer from exclusion and marginalization processes generated by this system, as is the case with elderly people, which creates the need for mechanisms aimed at protecting this stage of life. In Brazil, specifically, protection systems aimed at this population only began to be incorporated more comprehensively with the Federal Constitution of 1988, which recognizes the rights of the elderly, including the right to Social Assistance. However, it is argued that the consolidation of this right as a public policy takes place in an adverse context, marked by the advance of the neoliberal project, which has implications for its implementation and, consequently, for the lives of its users. This perspective is analyzed through the specificities of the elderly people assisted by the CRAS Anjo da Guarda, one of the PAS units in the Itaqui- Bacanga Region, where the field research was conducted. The study showed that, despite the significant impacts of this policy on the social, physical, and emotional development of elderly people, there are also difficulties in the delivery of services, related to the reduction of State action in social areas. This reveals that, often, investment in this field is seen as a cost, which reflects the socially constructed meaning attributed to old age.