printAgency of Older Leaders in the Process of Diffusion of Active Longevity Practices:
Structuration Approach
Astoyants M.S.
Dr. Sci. (Sociol.), Assoc. Prof., Head of the Department of Sectoral and Applied Sociology, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia mastoyanc@sfedu.ru
Кienko Т.S.
Cand. Sci. (Sociol.), Assoc. Prof., Department of Social Technologies, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia tskienko@sfedu.ru
The research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation according to the project No 26-18-00384.
Astoyants M.S., Кienko Т.S. Agency of Older Leaders in the Process of Diffusion of Active Longevity Practices: Structuration Approach. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2026. No 7. P. 101-114
This article, based on interviews with older leaders, analyzes their role as “ambassadors” initiating the diffusion of active ageing practices. A structuration approach serves as the theoretical framework, allowing us to identify the key mechanisms and barriers to this process. The study developed a dynamic model of the life cycle of social initiatives based on the intersection of two analytical axes: a typology of development trajectories (organic, strategic, institutional, professional) and the periodization of their stages. The results of the analysis show that the success of diffusion is determined by the nature of the interaction between the leader’s agentic resources and structuration conditions. The key factor is “structurational competence” – the agent’s skill in effectively and relevantly applying resources and knowledge of rule-based frameworks within given structuration conditions. Stagnation or extinction of initiatives, in turn, is explained through the concept of a “structurational gap” – a point of inconsistency caused by external structuration barriers or the irrelevance of agentic resources to current challenges. The proposed analysis enriches the theory of innovation diffusion by applying the structuration paradigm to its explanation and substantiates the need to change the vectors of modern social aging policy: moving from extensive involvement to the development of older leaders’ structurational competence and the creation of mechanisms for long-term support of self-organized communities.
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