Editors’ Introduction / Présentation du numéro

Simone de Beauvoir Studies, vol. 33, pp. 191–208

Abstract

Fears relating to the growing numbers of older people have given rise to an "apocalyptic demographics" that barely conceals its ageist overtones.1The popular metaphor of a gray tsunami frames older people as a faceless mass bound to crush the welfare state.2"Greedy geezer" is another dehumanizing term that pops up in debates around the rising costs of pensions and health care.3These bits of weaponized language are not just shouts in a void but are matched with real-world consequences.When Twitter users greeted the mass dying of older people during the covid-19 pandemic with the hashtag #boomerremover, they showcased how age-old stereotypes can breed deadly resentment.The rendering of older people as "useless mouths" is indeed a trope with a long history.4It makes a flashy return in the intergenerational conflict of the present, designed to deflect from the wreckage left by decades of neoliberal politics.

Authors 2

1. Hans-Georg Eilenberger

   Tilburg University

   Affiliation as printed

   Tilburg University https://dx.doi.org/145168 Tilburg The Netherlands

2. Annemie Halsema Aachen

   Leiden University · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands

   Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Netherlands