In this article, the authors critically examine themes that have become associated with work and retirement in the context of demographic change. Two discourses are looked at in detail, those of 'active' and 'productive' ageing, with a focus upon International and European social policy. Drawing on the work of Foucault and others, the emergence of a dominant discourse and its effects on policy-based understandings of ageing are examined. A new orthodoxy of ageing subjectivity is identified, restricting the social contribution of older adults to work and work-like activities. A subtext refers to the co-option of liberal gerontological priorities into new and socially rigid forms of identity that legitimize particular ways of growing old. The authors conclude that a radical re-positioning, inspired by mature identity, is required to rely less upon economically determined roles and more upon alternative grounding in existential life tasks and experience to give space for a 'mature subjectivity' and a desirable 'mature subject'.

Active ageing" has internationally circulated as a prominent approach to meeting the challenges of an ageing population. Through the use of a theatrical metaphor as an organizing principle, this article offers a fresh look at the concept of active ageing that clarifies the origins of its definition (the "story" of active ageing and its "playwrights") and presents the scope of its action in policy through the exploration of two societal "stages" in Quebec and Belgium. By comparing these two levels ("story"/"stages") and these two "stages", it helps to understand why the "comprehensive" version of active ageing developed more in Quebec while, until now, the "reduced" version to its productivist dimension is more evident in Belgium. The discussion also identifies some limits of "active ageing".

Gerontology has for a long time been described as "data rich, but theory poor". This is true for the study of spatial exclusion, too: in a recent scoping review on old-age exclusion, Walsh and his colleagues called for more theoretical work in the field of spatial exclusion. To answer this call, our article sketches out a heuristic model of an "ageing, space and exclusion" triangle, mainly based upon Lefebvrian thoughts. We applied our model to interpret the political concept of "Age Friendly Cities and Communities" (AFCC), promoted by the World Health Organization, and its practices worldwide. Some concluding remarks suggest further steps in improving this theoretical perspective.

International audienceBased on a reflexive method, this article explores the roles of researchers behind Age-Friendly Cities and Environments. Referring to Michael Burawoy's division of sociological work (professional, critical, policy and public sociology), it is structured around the international comparison of two empirical case studies: Walloon region (Belgium) and Quebec (a province of Canada). While the first case shows some difficulties faced by a limited policy sociology perspective with little room for research, the latter presents a more developed public sociology approach with larger involvement from research. If both cases started with policy links, the latter presents a special interest for praxis, through knowledge transfer as an ongoing public dialogue. Based on this comparison, the article concludes with a twofold use of praxis: on one side – knowledge in action – a public sociology position offers an original perspective on what AFC/AFE may mean and produce to avoid a limited field of actions focusing only on some stakeholders or advocates for older people. On the other side – action in knowledge – policy and public sociology question professional and critical sociology facing AFC/AFE programmes: is a purely academic knowledge of such a programme epistemologically realistic or should it necessarily be empirically fuelled