Ageing and Politics: A debate in political science

Authors

  • Cristina Ares Castro-Conde

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.179.06

Keywords:

Ageing, welfare state, European social model, generational justice/equity, war between generations, intergenerational solidarity, active ageing.

Abstract

Within a new context of public resource scarcity and debate on their fair and efficient allocation, this article defines three primary discourses framing the relationship between population ageing and the welfare state: the classical welfarist frame of protection of the elderly; the ‘war between generations’; and the ‘new intergenerational solidarity’. It highlights how the neoliberal discourse of the war between generations seeks to erode the European social model. Subsequently, it sheds light on some elements differentiating this neoliberal frame from an emerging ‘progressive’ version of the idea of the collapse of the intergenerational contract. Finally, it pays attention to issues that could contribute to the emerging agenda in Political Science on the effects of population ageing.

Issue

Section

ARTICLES