This paper examines aging through a political economy lens, drawing on Marxian concepts of labour, value, and social reproduction to analyse how older adults are positioned within contemporary welfare regimes. In capitalist economies, the biomedicalization of ageing increasingly frames older adults in terms of decline, dependency, and diminished social value. Such reductionist frameworks sustain profit driven medical systems that individualize responsibility for ageing while obscuring broader structural conditions. This market-oriented approach contributes to the commodification of care, producing inequalities in access and outcomes, and thereby fostering “eldercide” (Gullette 2024). Using the state of Kerala in India as a critical case, this paper examines a range of welfare interventions and policies implemented by the state government, and illustrates an alternative framework of a moral economy grounded in use value. Kerala offers a significant site for analysis, as it is the first and only state in the country led by the Communist party of India (Marxist) to establish a state level statutory body called the Kerala Senior Citizens Commission (2025), along with other welfare interventions for older adults. By situating Kerala in relation to ageing regimes in the Global North, this paper argues that aging can be partially decommodified through state-supported social and care infrastructures. It concludes that while alternative models of ageing are possible, they remain structurally constrained within a broader capitalist framework.

Authors:
Harishma A Gireesh, National Institute of Technology Warangal, India
Amrutha S L, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, India

About the Presenter(s)
Harishma A. Gireesh is a Doctoral Research Scholar in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology, Warangal. She holds an MA in English and Comparative Literature and completed her MPhil with a focus on Trans narratives and ageing. Her doctoral research is situated within Age Studies, with particular emphasis on ageing narratives in celebrity memoirs and the intersections of illness, gender, and later-life writing. Her research engages critically with contemporary debates on ageism, gendered ageing, and cultural constructions of later life. She has published scholarly articles and book reviews in reputed academic journals, including SAGE publications, with particular interest in memoirs that explore illness, vulnerability, and ageing. She is currently preparing a research article for the forthcoming Palgrave edited volume New Imaginaries of Ageing: Confronting Ageism and Sexism. In addition to her research, she has presented her work at several international conferences and actively contributes to scholarly discussions through reviewing and engaging with emerging debates in Age Studies and literary humanities. She serves as the Additional Secretary of the Humanities and Social Sciences Society at NIT Warangal, where she plays an active role in organizing academic events and fostering interdisciplinary dialogue.

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