Individual contributions 

Prof. Sana Benbelli -  Hassan II University of Casablanca, Casablanca (Morocco)

Rethinking Aging Studies in Morocco: Towards a Situated, Non-Extractive Epistemology of Care

Research on aging in Morocco remains limited and largely shaped by theoretical and methodological frameworks from the Global North. This paper seeks to lay the foundations for a situated epistemology of aging studies, attentive to local contexts and the lived experiences of older adults. It draws on feminist and postcolonial approaches, promoting a non-extractive methodology that foregrounds care, reciprocity, and emotional engagement as central components of the research process. Based on preliminary ethnographic fieldwork in Casablanca, the study examines how aging, dependence, and care are experienced and negotiated within families and community networks. The field is approached not merely as a site of observation, but as a relational space of shared learning, where emotions, vulnerability, and everyday rhythms become epistemic resources. This methodological approach thus proposes a care-centered epistemology, grounded in reciprocity, ethical presence, and attention to the temporalities of aging. It challenges extractive practices and redefines knowledge production as a collaborative process, attentive to both social realities and the co-construction of meaning. By integrating care, emotional engagement, and situated learning, this work contributes to the development of an aging studies framework that is locally grounded, socially just, and epistemically decolonial. It invites reflection on how research can be conducted ethically and politically, ensuring that both knowledge and relationships are mutually reinforcing, rather than extractive.

Dr. Mone Spindler -  University of Tübingen , Tübingen (Germany)
Reviving critical gerontology: A transdisciplinary intergenerational experiment on elderly care in Germany 

PhD. Essilina Fuel -  Eduardo Mondlane University , Maputo (Mozambic)
Reimagining aging in Mozambique: care, dignity and public health

With improvements in life expectancy in Mozambique, the elderly population faces significant structural vulnerabilities, primarily shaped by colonial and historical legacies as well as social inequalities, making aging a pressing public health challenge. Despite existing social protection and elder care policies, gaps persist between political discourse and actual care practices, overburdening the elderly with disease and functional limitations, compounded by challenges such as poverty, fragile family networks, and scarcity of specialized services. This study critically examines aging as a social, ethical, and political issue, emphasizing care and dignity as central pillars of health responses. Through post-colonial and decolonial perspectives, it explores how care practices and public inclusion policies for older people continue to reflect colonial legacies, while new local forms of intergenerational support emerge. Three areas are addressed: (1) advances in national policies for elder protection and health; (2) community and family care practices strategies to address dependency and exclusion; and (3) the development of care epistemologies that value local knowledge and reciprocity as pillars for knowledge production in health. The reflection proposes to rethink aging not only as a demographic phenomenon but as a field for ethical action and innovation in public health. Valuing care, dignity, and social belonging of older adults is fundamental to promoting more inclusive collective health, sensitive to cultural realities, and committed to social justice.

Lecturer Samantha Barkley -  University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (South Africa)
Reimagining Informal Older Persons’ Care in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Informal care for older persons in South Africa exists within a complex landscape shaped by colonial and apartheid legacies. Approximately 44% of older persons live in poverty, and systemic inequalities persist along lines of race, gender, and geography. Older Black women face disproportionate challenges, including economic dependence, inadequate healthcare access, and various forms of violence from pension-related exploitation to culturally-specific abuses such as witchcraft accusations. This contribution examines how regulatory frameworks governing informal (community-based) care can either empower or undermine the dignity of older persons. Traditional institutionalised care models centred on individual autonomy fail to reflect the reality of multigenerational households, where older women occupy dual roles as both care recipients and primary caregivers/economic providers. Moreover, institutionalised care remains inaccessible to most South Africans, making community-based care not merely an alternative but an essential framework for elder care in the global south, particularly South Africa. Using a post-colonial analytical lens and doctrinal legal analysis, I critically examine how the South African Older Persons Act 13 of 2006 which prioritises community-based care over institutionalisation addresses the challenges and potentials of informal care. Implementation gaps reveal tensions between rights-based ideals and lived realities, particularly regarding culturally-specific forms of abuse, economic exploitation of pension grants, and the unrecognised care labour of older women in multigenerational households. I argue that older persons’ care must balance protection with participation, centering older persons as rights-holders rather than passive recipients. This research responds to the panel's call for situated methodologies by examining how South Africa's constitutional framework, that explicitly prohibits age discrimination yet lacks dedicated provisions for older persons’, shapes informal care relationships. This analysis provides a foundation for cross-context dialogue on how African nations might develop legal frameworks that honour both rights-based protections and familial care traditions.

Collective contribution

Aging is often referred to as a societal challenge to be tackled. Historically, aging research and related concepts for dealing with aging have been dominated by the United States and Europe. In the Global South, postcolonial legacies, structural economic inequalities, and specific forms of family-based solidarity shape how old age is lived, perceived, and cared for—often in contrast to dominant Northern models. The participation of the Global South in aging research has increased over the past decades. 

However, African-European collaboration is needed to explore the complexities of the discourses, political-economic structures and experiences of aging in these different contexts in order to open possibilities of livable, positive futures of aging. In our panel discussion we bring together researchers from different academic disciplines (biology, public health, law, sociology, ethics) dealing with aging from Morocco, South Africa, Mozambique and Germany with stakeholders (municipal officials, community leaders,care givers and social workers) from Casablanca. 

As a starting point for our collaboration in ageing research and education we discuss informal elderly care in familial settings. We invite the stakeholders to bring a concrete case from their everyday practice (e.g. a story, a concept, a problem) which they want to explore with us. The panel offers room for critical, cross-cultural reflection and empowerment. 
Building upon post- colonial perspectives on ageing we discuss the questions mentioned below and thereby raise cross- cutting issues of social inequality, gender and migration. In addition to the panel discussion we are aiming to do a study visit, in which we visit one/two NGOs in Casablanca who work in the field of informal elderly care. We learn about their activities and perspectives and discuss in order to facilitate mutual learning, empowerment and network building.