Urbaniak Anna
Institute of Sociology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Front Sociol. 2021 Jun 28;6:686674. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2021.686674. eCollection 2021.
In the institutionalized life course transition from work to retirement is the transition that culturally defines the beginning of later life. However, there is no universal way of experiencing retirement or understanding retirees' social roles. Especially in the context of the post-communist, liquid modern reality in Poland. The social role of the retiree, defined as a set of rules and expectations generated for individuals occupying particular positions in the social structure, is constructed at the intersection of what is culturally defined and individually negotiated. Therefore, the way in which individuals (re)define term "retiree" and "do retirement" reflects not only inequalities in individual resources and attitudes, but also in social structure in a given place and at a given time. In this contribution, I draw upon data from 68 qualitative interviews with retirees from Poland to analyze retirement practices and meanings assigned to the term "retiree." Applying practice theory, I explore the inequalities they (re)produce, mirror and reinforce at the same time. Results show that there are four broad types of retirement practices: caregiving, working, exploring and disengaging. During analysis of meanings assigned by participants to the term "retiree," two definitions emerged: one of a "new wave retiree" and the other of a "stagnant retiree." Results suggest that in the post-communist context, retirement practices and meanings assigned to the term "retiree" are in the ongoing process of (re)negotiation and are influenced on the one hand by the activation demands resulting from discourses of active and productive aging, and on the other by habitus and imaginaries of retirement formed in the bygone communist era. Retirement practices and definitions of the term "retiree" that emerged from the data reflect structural and individual inequalities, highlighting intersection of gender, age and socioeconomic status in the (re)production of inequalities in retirement transition in the post-communist context.
在制度化的人生历程中，从工作到退休的转变在文化层面上定义了晚年生活的开始。然而，对于退休的体验方式或对退休人员社会角色的理解并不存在普遍适用的模式。尤其是在波兰后共产主义、流动性现代社会的背景下。退休人员的社会角色，被定义为针对在社会结构中占据特定位置的个体所产生的一系列规则和期望，是在文化定义与个体协商的交叉点上构建而成的。因此，个体（重新）定义“退休人员”一词以及“进行退休生活”的方式，不仅反映了个体资源和态度上的不平等，还反映了特定时间和地点的社会结构中的不平等。在本论文中，我借鉴了对68名波兰退休人员进行定性访谈的数据，以分析退休实践以及赋予“退休人员”一词的含义。运用实践理论，我探讨了他们同时（重新）产生、反映和强化的不平等现象。结果表明，退休实践大致有四种类型：照顾他人、工作、探索和脱离社会。在分析参与者赋予“退休人员”一词的含义时，出现了两种定义：一种是“新潮退休人员”，另一种是“停滞退休人员”。结果表明，在后共产主义背景下，退休实践以及赋予“退休人员”一词的含义正处于持续的（重新）协商过程中，一方面受到积极老龄化和生产性老龄化话语所产生的激活需求的影响，另一方面受到过去共产主义时代形成的退休惯习和想象的影响。从数据中得出的退休实践和“退休人员”一词的定义反映了结构和个体层面的不平等，凸显了后共产主义背景下退休转型不平等现象（重新）产生过程中性别、年龄和社会经济地位的交叉影响。
