Replacing Who?: Current Discourses about Age and Demographic Threats in Southeastern Europe

• In Event: Anxieties of Ageing and Demographic Nationalism in Southeastern Europe

Abstract

The paper will discuss new debates about demographic threats in Southeastern Europe, focusing on Serbia and North Macedonia in particular. It will explore how discourses about aging are part of a broad demographic nationalist narrative, that positions itself both as part of larger European narratives of demographic threats, such as the “great replacement theory”, as well as drawing on earlier ethnonationalist tropes such as the threat of the nation by minorities with a higher birthrate. Most attention in these debates is focused on either pro-natalist and anti-immigrant discourses, whereas this paper will center on the understanding of and discourse about aging. Drawing on debates in media and political elites, this presentation is part of larger comparative research project funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung.

Author

• Florian Bieber, U of Graz (Austria)