As performances, memórias e as políticas públicas nos espaços de acolhimento à pessoa idosa na cidade de Goiânia

Abstract

Would this be a new Brazil, or a Brazil that has aged and is not yet prepared to care for its population? Aging is not merely a biological or statistical fact but a cultural, political, and performative phenomenon, marked by a disconnect between increasing longevity and a scarcity of democratic, multicultural policies. This doctoral thesis investigates population aging, focusing on the municipality of Goiânia—the capital of the state of Goiás—through an interdisciplinary lens combining Cultural Performance studies, the Social Sciences, and Critical Gerontology. The research is grounded in the epistemic framework of socio historical and performative constructivism, wherein aging is understood as a social construct shaped by social drama, ageism, and contexts of labor over-exploitation and neoliberal counter-reforms that undermine social protection. Based on this premise, the study introduces the innovative concept of "performances of re existence by older adults," recognizing that knowledge emerges from listening to subjectivities and observing older bodies in performance; here, art and gesture serve not only to resist prejudice but also as political acts of reinventing life, affirming existence, and combating social erasure. The central objective is to understand how performance and memory experiences within three institutional care settings in Goiânia—the Assunção Senior Center, the Vila Vida Senior Center, and the *Centro Livre de Artes* (Open Arts Center) – contribute to the aging process, acting as catalysts for positive psychosocial transformations through the promotion of artistic and cultural activities. The theoretical framework integrates performance and social drama studies; reflections on collective memory, spiral time, and ancestry; critical gerontology and social critique; and an intersectional perspective encompassing class, race, gender, and age. This qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory study employed participant observation, document analysis of legislation and guidelines from the 6th National Conference on the Rights of Older Persons (CONADIPI), photographic documentation, and conversational interviews grounded in oral history. The results reveal the more vulnerable side of longevity in the urban landscape of Goiânia – where family solidarity reaches its limits in situations involving older adults caring for other older adults—whilesimultaneously highlighting the emancipatory role of "re-existence" performances in renegotiating identity and fostering agency. The study identifies a critical gap regarding the invisibility of older adults and the lack of resource allocation to fund social policies for this demographic across the three levels of government. Finally, the study points to shortcomings in local public policies and bureaucratic obstacles to data access, underscoring the urgent need for a National Care Policy and the consolidation of multicultural initiatives that transform longevity into a universal and dignified right.