Elderly and place making : an interdisciplinary action research in post-disaster community rebuilding

Abstract

China’s population is aging and which is more rapidly than almost any country in recent history . In 2019, 1.7 billion or 12.6 % of the population was aged 65 or older . The consequence of an aging population trend is usually represented negatively as‘elderly as a burden’, whether in China or elsewhere. However, our action research project of post-disaster community rebuilding in Ya’an in Sichuan Province of China challenges this dominant discourse. In the process, we discovered the strength of the elderly who did not passively accept outside aid after the earthquake, but actively participated in rebuilding their community. They were valuable human/cultural assets and able to make a valuable contribution to community development. This article demonstrate the interdisciplinary action research in which social workers hand-in-hand with elderly villagers to promote sustainable community development by integrating local capacity into long-term reconstruction. Most importantly, it highlights the contribution of older people and debunks the dominant discourse relating to the elderly. 中国正在快速步入老龄化社会，2019 年65 岁及以上的人口约有1 亿7 千万、占总人口12.6%。无论在中国还是其他国家，人口老龄化带来的影响总被表述为负面的，比如“作为负担的老人”。然而，四川雅安的灾后社区重建项目却挑战了关于老年意义的主流话语，面对地震时，老年人并不是被动地等待或接受外来援助，而是积极地参与到社区重建之中，因为他们本身就是社区蕴含丰富人文价值的资产，且有能力贡献于社区发展。本文立足于一个跨学科的行动研究案例。在这个案例中，社会工作者与村中老年人合作，将在地民众的社会、文化和经济技能融入社区灾后长期重建中，推动了社区可持续发展。更为重要的是，项目凸显了老年人的积极贡献，修正了传统的价值偏见。