Against Ageism: A Queer Manifesto refuses the usual socio-economic defence of the elderly and instead dismantles the very constructs of age and youth through queer theory, crip theory, and anti-colonial thinking — arriving at a call for the abolition of age-related laws.
About This Book
This is not a polite argument for inclusion. Simon(e) van Saarloos begins by rejecting the terms on which ageism is typically debated — the framing of older people as economically productive, the assumption that youth carries inherent value — and builds a more unsettling case from the ground up. Drawing on personal experience alongside crip and queer theory, anti-carceral thought, and anti-colonial perspectives on time, the manifesto traces how ageism is entangled with white supremacy and patriarchy. The result is a text that destabilises commonly held understandings of age itself, demanding readers reconsider what is at stake when society organises itself around age-related categories and laws.
Key Features
- 176 pages of manifesto-form critical theory drawing on queer, crip, anti-carceral, and anti-colonial perspectives
- Written by Simon(e) van Saarloos
- Published by SPBH Editions
What You'll Discover
- Why conventional arguments against ageism reproduce the very hierarchies they claim to oppose
- How ageism intersects structurally with white supremacy and patriarchy, rather than operating as a separate phenomenon
- The role of anti-colonial and anti-carceral frameworks in rethinking how societies organise time and age
- A provocation for the abolition of age-related laws, grounded in queer and crip theory rather than liberal reformism
About the Author
Simon(e) van Saarloos is the author of this manifesto, which draws extensively on their personal experience alongside interdisciplinary frameworks spanning queer theory, crip theory, and anti-colonial thought. [Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 176
- Dimensions: 10.5 x 16.5 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781915743855
- Publisher: SPBH Editions
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Readers engaged with queer theory, critical disability studies, anti-colonial thought, and anyone interrogating how age-based structures shape law, power, and social life.