| This dissertation is a critical discourse analysis of 138 Toronto Star articles published in 1999 and 2000. The governmentality perspective is drawn upon to examine the ways in which subjectivities shaped as 'positive' for contemporary 'retirees' are bounded within neoliberal political rationality. At the beginning of the 21st century, constructions of 'positive aging' emphasizing the possibility of continued health, happiness and youthfulness and the need for individuals to responsibly work towards such outcomes pervade numerous institutional areas. At the same time, neoliberal political rationality is influencing the re-shaping of retirement within state policies in several Western nations away from a collective, standardized event towards an individualized process and responsibility. As 'retirees' are discursively shaped in ways influenced by 'positive aging' discourses and neoliberal political rationality, it is important to critically examine the resultant constructions of 'retirees' as they influence what come to be seen as possible, ideal, and moral ways to age and have material, social, and phenomenological consequences.; Four dominant ideal types of subjectivities that fit along two continua, with one having end points of consumption and production and the other having end-points of age-defiance and being prudential, are evident in the articles analyzed. While less prevalent, one contradictory non-ideal and two alternative ideal subjectivity types are also apparent. Technologies of activation, autonomization and responsibilization employed within the articles shape subjectivities in ways that link the individual aims and practices of 'retirees' with neoliberal aims. A dichotomy is established between ideal 'retirees' capable of self-care and 'vulnerable seniors' incapable of self-care, which parallels the neoliberal dichotomy between 'good' and 'failed' citizens.; This study problematizes, rather than accepts, the ways in which 'positive aging' has come to be shaped within neoliberal sociopolitical contexts and concludes that the freedom promised with 'positive aging' discourses is ultimately illusory. Aging individuals are obligated to resist or defy aging by engaging in relentless projects of risk management, self-reflection and improvement, self-marketing, lifestyle maximization and body optimization. The findings suggest that the intersection of 'positive aging' with neoliberal political rationality has meant that contemporary discourses regarding 'positive' ways to retire have failed to transcend ageism. |
