탈정치적 생명정치와 노인의 존재론

Abstract

This paper examines the existential status of older adults today through the lens of critical gerontology. Currently, the predominant trend in gerontology is focused on 'successful aging'. Older adults are increasingly viewed as exemplars of 'successful aging' itself. Loneliness, solitude, and reflections on pain are considered hindrances to successful aging. Existing aging policies construct older adults as passive beings. They are not only reduced to objects of management and control but also degraded to incompetent surplus existences. Examples illustrating this include the animation "Oldman Z" and the film "I, Daniel Blake", where older adults become appendages of welfare systems or victims of neoliberal policies. The lifecycle theory, a major theory in elder care, resembles nothing more than the lifecycle of a product. Moreover, similar to the logic of planned obsolescence of commodities, old age is constructed as an existence to be discarded. In post-political biopolitics, older adults are exposed to violence under the guise of tolerance. The isolation and decline of older adults are justified under the guise of recognizing differences. Nursing homes are nothing more than institutionalized confinement facilities. Furthermore, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults exist in a state of exception, where they can be discarded at any time, thus becoming excluded ‘homo sacer’ politically and legally. The animation "Wrinkles" and the novel "The Old Man's War" are representative examples. In a society that mystifies and worships anti-aging, true 'aging' is impossible. In short, we have entered an era of aging without old age, of older adults without elders. Serious discourse on the existence of 'aging' and 'older adults' is impossible in a society that defines aging as an enemy. Above all, we must be able to witness the genuine suffering experienced by older adults. This courage should lead to the invention of new language (discourse) for older adults and society, which can only take shape through an integrated process across various disciplines.