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Special Issue of European Disability Journal

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Description

'Ageing, Technology & the Home: Researching New Care Configurations' is a special issue of the journal ALTER - European Journal of Disability Research, which has been edited by Maggie Mort & CeliaRoberts (Sociology) and Christine Milligan (Division of Health Research.) The issue responds to the rapid development of new care technologies aimed at older people in 'developed' societies, and being heavily promotedby both industry and governments to support 'independent living' inthe context of demographic ageing and shrinking budgets. We bring together papers from a range of perspectives (feminist science studies, social geography, architecture, social psychology, empiricalphilosophy) and from four regions of Europe, to consider the relationship between independence and dependence (enablement and disablement) and the role that technologies play in this.

In the special issue, we explore 'living with' telecare and technologies for independent living, as an ethical issue to be studied empirically. Drawing on science & technology studies, we resist the 'black boxing'of these technologies; that is, we resist taking new care technologies as 'given' or pre-determined systems which can then be evaluated. In the same way, drawing on insights from social geography we resist the notion that 'home' is a space in which new care technologies can unproblematically be introduced. The papers examine not only how telecare technologies work in practice, but also their underlying rationales, goals, scripts and assumptions about users and carers' lives.

Period8/04/2009

'Ageing, Technology & the Home: Researching New Care Configurations' is a special issue of the journal ALTER - European Journal of Disability Research, which has been edited by Maggie Mort & CeliaRoberts (Sociology) and Christine Milligan (Division of Health Research.) The issue responds to the rapid development of new care technologies aimed at older people in 'developed' societies, and being heavily promotedby both industry and governments to support 'independent living' inthe context of demographic ageing and shrinking budgets. We bring together papers from a range of perspectives (feminist science studies, social geography, architecture, social psychology, empiricalphilosophy) and from four regions of Europe, to consider the relationship between independence and dependence (enablement and disablement) and the role that technologies play in this.

In the special issue, we explore 'living with' telecare and technologies for independent living, as an ethical issue to be studied empirically. Drawing on science & technology studies, we resist the 'black boxing'of these technologies; that is, we resist taking new care technologies as 'given' or pre-determined systems which can then be evaluated. In the same way, drawing on insights from social geography we resist the notion that 'home' is a space in which new care technologies can unproblematically be introduced. The papers examine not only how telecare technologies work in practice, but also their underlying rationales, goals, scripts and assumptions about users and carers' lives.

References

TitleSpecial Issue of European Disability Journal
Date8/04/09
PersonsMaggie Mort, Christine Milligan, Celia Roberts