ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of how, from a sociocultural perspective, the ageing body is currently understood. It discusses how a focus on the ageing body can continue to contribute towards physical cultural studies as a fluid sensibility between critical scholarship on (in)active embodiment and power relations. The ageing body has traditionally been framed by biomedical knowledge, which has encouraged an understanding of growing older primarily in terms of corporeality and bodily manifestations. The chapter presents a limited selection of key issues emerging within a growing interest in how the ageing body intersects with physical culture. The poignancy of certain spaces and places for body–self relationships can also have implications for where people seek out experiences of embodied activity. As part of a broader study adopting an interpretive 'geo-narrative' approach, Bell and Wheeler explored the role of place characteristics in older adults' use of outdoor activity space.
