TYRANNY OF MERIT: The self-entrepreneur and “successful” old age

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.2162212220101

• Palavras-chave: Old age. Morality. Neoliberalism.

• Keywords: Old age. Morality. Neoliberalism.

• Abstract:

  In this article, we investigate the conditions of possibility of discursive production about old age in contemporary times. The working hypothesis is that there is a model of “successful” old age that has become hegemonic in the media. We verified that this “successful” aging mode is intertwined with neoliberal rationality and aims to encourage individuals to be self-entrepreneurs in their old age projects. Thus, biopolitical shifts around old age in modernity and contemporaneity are analyzed. To investigate how the discourse of “successful” old age is configured, Foucault's genealogical perspective was used in order to suspend the crystallized truths about aging. Finally, one of the highlighted points is the emergence of a moralizing discourse on old age that classifies and divides elderly individuals into “deserving” or “failure”, according to their commitment to the prescriptions of the “successful” old age model.