Ageing abjection from a COVID-19 crisis perspective

The COVID-19 health crisis, which started in early 2020 in Denmark, drew attention to the population of older persons, due to their higher risk of dying of COVID-19 symptoms compared to younger people. This chapter discusses how the political rhetoric of the government, represented by its prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, problematised old age, older persons, and vulnerability during the crisis. The discussion draws on public speeches selected as representing three waves of the pandemic, as identified and described in Denmark. Theoretically, the discussion is inspired by the concept of ‘abjection’ related to the ‘twin faces of ageism’, implying either agency or frailty. Combining critical discourse analysis with positioning analysis and actantial model analysis of three example speeches, the chapter shows how political rhetoric representing different kinds of speech acts called upon the Danish community to protect older people. Concurrently, this rhetoric reinforced abjection, including a homogenisation of older people as weak, dependent, and without voice or agency.