Suchergebnisse

Abstract
In this article, I discuss the way that the body becomes the crucial socio-material element of ageing in a future city when it is imagined in participatory workshops involving seniors, city officials and researchers and when this joint learning process is analysed through the lens of affect theory. The analysis shows how the materiality of bodies that move between places and with other human and nonhuman bodies adds to the anthropological understanding of ageing as an experienced and cultural phenomenon, as well as the understanding of ageing as a human–nonhuman assemblage. Furthermore, analysing participatory design processes through the lens of affects generates knowledge on how emotions participate in the making of boundaries that are essential when designing not only to cater to senior city dwellers, but also to anyone.

This article investigates participatory action research workshops from the perspective of feminist new materialism by asking, how we came to know ageing in the smart city of Oulu in northern Finland through collaborative workshops which aimed to include seniors into public service design. The most meaningful socio-material components in this knowledge-making are argued to be the shifts in social power relations, particular spatial and material practices, and the participant assemblage. These components intra-act transferring our understanding on ageing: ageing becomes a creative state where the seniors are included in the problem-solving instead of being citizens to be looked after, and thus being merely a socio-economic problem. The power dynamics are essential in participatory action research, therefore, the accountability of all agents should be carefully analysed to understand the impacts of epistemology both in design and social change.

AbstractThe paper discusses how the power perspective has been considered and discussed in qualitative social studies on the use of mobile phones in practices at home, work and public places. Some themes relevant from the aspect of power negotiations were extrapolated from the reviewed literature: constant availability at home and work, and the mobile phone as a public status symbol in respect to its design and use in space, time, and social surroundings. The review also aims to show how social variables affecting the adoption and use of the mobile phone have so far been analyzed in research. The writers conclude that mobile phones have been interpreted to reproduce and renew traditional power hierarchies. Still, more nuanced research is needed to understand the micro‐mechanisms of power in the socio‐cultural contexts of the use of mobile phones.