Authors

Discussion

This paper contributes to the understandings of how the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped relations between the state and older citizens in Belarus. The paper looks at the dominant discourse about ageing and older people represented in Belarusian state-run media outlets before and during the pandemic. It explores the position in society offered to older citizens, based on ideas about their access to work, leisure, giving and receiving support, and decision-making. The paper offers an insight into how the dominant attitude to older citizens in the country is informed by the geopolitical proximity of Belarus to Russia and the confrontation between Lukashenko and Western democracies. The paper also explores whether the active involvement of older people in the ongoing political protests in Belarus has initiated public discussion about various forms of age discrimination existing in the country.