How is the concept of empowerment being addressed within the scope of ageing? A concept that has spread throughout English-speaking cultures, within which it has clear meaning, empowerment is a less tangible concept within French-language literature. The purpose of this review of French-language literature is to identify the development of research into empowerment within the scope of ageing, and the characteristics which should reveal the forms of power at stake, the conceptions of empowerment upon which it is based and paradigmatic implications. The process of identifying articles has resulted in a corpus of 63 scientific articles. No date or field-related restrictions were applied. On the other hand, research has been confined to French-language peer-reviewed articles. Processed systematically using software, this corpus has revealed significant trends. Going beyond the polysemy of the concept or related concepts associated with empowerment, power occupies a central role. Analysing the respective importance of the different forms of power identified, however, shows areas of empowerment that are strongly confined to the areas of proximity, the relation, or even the individual. Furthermore, and going beyond the range of issues studied and ensuing questions, this literature review allows a number of dominant themes and questions to emerge, on the basis of three main conceptions of empowerment: a - historic - civic conception, based on a democratic principle, a managerial conception, based on the principle of efficiency, and a hygienist conception - the most recent - based on the principle of independence. These are mainly rooted in the same epistemological framework, that of a rational and responsible individual, with capacities and competencies, which should be maintained by mobilising the resources offered in an enhanced environment.