Les Fédérations sportives face aux défis du vieillissement (FFEPGV : 1990-2017)
Résumé
Since the 1990s, concerns related to the “challenges of ageing” (Guillemard, 2010) have received growing attention from consecutive governments in France. In parallel with this, the sporting community has seen increasing growth in membership among over sixties, as a result of offering activities aimed at reducing the effects of ageing. This is the case of the Fédération française d’éducation physique et de gymnastique volontaire (FFEPGV: the French Federation for Physical Education and Voluntary Gymnastics) which has 520,000 members, 198,000 of whom are over sixty. This has made FFEPGV the federation with the largest number of “senior” members in France. In an effort to analyze the effects of public policy, we have studied the development of relationships between the FFEPGV and the implementation of a preventative public policy designed to promote “ageing well.” To this end, we examine the forms of action and judgement that have been set up in response to the directive to encourage prevention through physical activity. Collected data highlight the extent to which the FFEPGV has been involved in constructing the “problem” of ageing (Gusfield, 1981/2009) and show how its relations with political powers have evolved in light of the reconfiguration of public policy to reflect a “new public management” approach (Bezes, 2012).