Positioning of senior citizens as a vulnerable group in modern Russia: the official and public discourse

Abstract

This article examines the discourses of the senior citizens in modern Russia, represented by power and society. The materials the author has used include offi cial documents, statistics and sociological research. The official discourse (e.g. policy in relation to senior citizens) mostly shows progress in national social policy. In public discourse gerontophobia and ageism can be found. The comparative analysis of both discourses (offi cial and public) shows manipulation with positive results carried out by officials, on the one hand, and the actual expulsion of “third age” citizens out of the scope of employment on the other. This “expulsion” is not criticized in public discourse in general, as, in this case, the concepts of “old age” and “retirement age” with the resultant “natural” change of status go hand in hand. Refs 15.

В данной статье проанализированы дискурсы власти и общества о пожилых гражданах в современной России. В качестве материалов использованы официальные документы, статистика и данные социологических исследований. Сравнительный анализ обоих дискурсов (официального и общественного) показал манипулирование официальными лицами позитивными результатами, с одной стороны, и геронтофобию и эйджизм по отношению к гражданам «третьего возраста» — с другой. Библиогр. 15 назв.