Age studies scholars have long noted problems with using a tsunami metaphor to describe population ageing. Age-friendly offers a new way to respond to an increase in older adults. Though critical gerontologists identify the related movement’s limits, “age-friendly” itself is rarely recognized as a metaphor. This paper proposes that, while the metaphor of age-friendly is more benign than that of the tsunami, it still portrays an ageing population as a homogenous problem to be solved through morally obligatory individual actions, thereby participating in a form of age panic. The analysis draws on a humanities-based close reading of the World Health Organization’s 2007 “Global Age-Friendly Cities: A Guide.” The method uncovers attitudes that anchor the metaphor and hamper the movement’s effectiveness, particularly when trying to reach people who have not already been well served all their lives. The emphasis on a narrow version of active ageing feeds a neoliberal imagination that affects how value is assigned to an ageing population. That underlying emphasis needs to shift before new metaphors, policies and practices for population ageing—that allow for the variability and uniqueness of late-life experience—can take hold. How might we reconceptualize the ageing population if we focus on contributions and meaning instead?

中文翻译：

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“和这样的朋友在一起”：解开人口老龄化的恐慌隐喻

年龄研究学者早就注意到使用海啸比喻来描述人口老龄化的问题。老年友好型提供了一种应对老年人增加的新方法。尽管批判性老年学家确定了相关运动的局限性，但“年龄友好”本身很少被视为隐喻。本文提出，虽然老年友好的比喻比海啸的比喻更温和，但它仍然将人口老龄化描绘成一个同质的问题，需要通过道德义务的个人行动来解决，从而参与了一种年龄恐慌的形式。该分析借鉴了对世界卫生组织 2007 年“全球老年友好城市：指南”的人文关怀。该方法揭示了锚定隐喻并阻碍运动有效性的态度，特别是在试图接触那些一生都没有得到很好服务的人时。强调积极老龄化的狭隘版本助长了新自由主义的想象力，影响了如何为老龄化人口分配价值。在考虑到晚年经历的可变性和独特性的人口老龄化的新隐喻、政策和做法能够站稳脚跟之前，这种潜在的重点需要转变。如果我们专注于贡献和意义，我们如何重新定义人口老龄化？允许晚年经历的可变性和独特性的人口老龄化政策和做法可以发挥作用。如果我们专注于贡献和意义，我们如何重新定义人口老龄化？允许晚年经历的可变性和独特性的人口老龄化政策和做法可以发挥作用。如果我们专注于贡献和意义，我们如何重新定义人口老龄化？