The Iaioflautas: A seniors’ networked social movement

• In Event: 3451 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 7. Mobilization and Motivations

Abstract

There has been growing attention given to the topic of political participation in later life in the course of ageing societies. Yet, there is limited research on older people’s participation in social movements and the meanings of their involvement. In the recent contentious scenario in Spain represented by the 15M social movement, the Iaioflautas emerged as a group in Barcelona in 2011. This group exhibits two distinctive traits: (a) it is a social movement composed of older people that (b) relies significantly on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to achieve its organizational and communicational purposes. This article explores the Iaioflautas movement from the perspective of highly engaged participants to identify its salient characteristics. Information was gathered through documental research and semi-structured interviews with 15 active members of the group based in Barcelona. Results show that (a) the Iaioflautas articulates its structure and dynamics based on the same principles of any other networked social movement, but also bears distinctive characteristics; (b) participants diverge in political experience and ICT skills, but converge in the core motives and reasons to take part, and (c) the participants’ perception of the community’s reaction is positive in terms of support, admiration, and decreased ageism. These findings emphasize the need to extend this line of research to provide more attention, visibility, and consideration towards older people.

Author

• Daniel Blanche, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya