We virtually welcomed Dr Tanja Ahlin from the University of Amsterdam to present ‘Transnational Care Collectives: Digital technologies for elder care in Indian nurse families’.
Date: Tuesday 27th February 2024
About the seminar
How do digital technologies shape how people care for each other and, through that, who they are? This is a particularly pertinent question today, as technological innovation is on the rise while increasing migration is introducing vast distances among family members. The situation has been additionally complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the requirements of physical distancing, especially for the most vulnerable – older adults. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with families of migrating nurses from Kerala, India, I explore how digital technologies shape elder care when adult children and their aging parents live far apart. Transnational life is relatively recent so there are no established rules about what remote care could be and how it should be done to be considered good. Families, then, are in a period of transition as they work to establish new norms and expectations of elder care. Coming from a country in which appropriate elder care is closely associated with co-residence, these families tinker with smartphones and social media to establish what remote care could be and how it should be done to be considered good. In the process, digital technologists shift power dynamics in the families. Through the notion of transnational care collectives, I uncover the subtle workings of digital technologies on care across countries and continents when being physically together is not feasible.
About the presenter
Dr Tanja Ahlin
Dr. Tanja Ahlin is a post-doctoral researcher on “Human Factor in New Technologies” at the Department of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, where she has also completed her PhD. Previously, she was awarded a Master’s degree in Health and Society in South Asia from Heidelberg University. Her major interests revolve around (health)care and technology as well as migration, gender and aging. During her studies, she has conducted qualitative research, particularly ethnographic fieldwork in North and South India, Oman and Slovenia. She’s the author of Calling Family: Digital Technologies and the Making of Transnational Care Collectives. See this website for more information.
Centre for Care Seminar Series
In this seminar series we invite colleagues, partners and experts, whose work aligns with the mission of our Centre, to share their work with us and our audiences, to deepen our understanding of the critical issues in social care in the UK and around the world.
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