1 Land, history and people: Older people’s stories about meaningful activities and social connectedness in later life. Accepted for publication in Journal of Population Ageing, September 11, 2019. This is a post-peer- review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of Population Ageing. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12062-019-09253-7 The final publication is available at link.springer.com. Authors: Helga Eggebø (PhD), Senior Researcher at the Nordland Research Institute. Email: [email protected] Postal address: Nordland Research Institute, Box 1490, N-8049 Bodø, Norway. Phone number: + 47 92 43 64 79 ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8502-6645 Mai Camilla Munkejord, (PhD), Professor at the Department for Child Welfare and Social Work, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway/Research Professor Uni Research Rokkan Centre. Email: [email protected] Postal addresses: 1) UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, Box 6050 Langnes, 9037 Tromsø, Norway. 2) Uni Research Rokkan, Nygårdsgaten 112, 5008 Bergen, Norway. Walter Schönfelder (PhD), Associate Professor at the Department for Child Welfare and Social Work, UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Email: [email protected] Postal address: The Arctic University of Norway, Box 6050 Langnes, 9037 Tromsø, Norway. ORCID: : https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0199-154X Abstract Social and humanistic gerontology have challenged the narratives of pessimism and decline embedded in bio-medical models of aging and care. One stream of criticism comes from literature