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Start date: 2020Subject: search.filters.subject.Conduct of life

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    Connected older citizens : ageing in place and digitally mediated care in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Media Studies at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, Massey University Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025-05-07) Vonk, Lisa
    Amidst discussions of Aotearoa New Zealand’s ageing population, how to care for growing numbers of older people is a considered a preeminent social and political issue. Digital technologies are imagined to be a particularly desirable solution in contexts where social values of independence intersect with the neoliberal state’s desire to reduce the amount of money spent on medical and social care. There is a substantial market for gerontechnologies (technologies specifically designed for older people) aiming to capitalise on the ‘silver tsunami’. Yet, digital technologies such as smart phones, exercise watches and laptops are widely accessible in Aotearoa New Zealand. They are increasingly used by older people to maintain social connectedness, coordinate practical support, and manage health. The purpose of this research was to explore how this digitally mediated care functions for community-dwelling older people. Taking an innovative theoretical-methodological approach, I combined actor-network theory with political economy theory. This enabled me to robustly examine sociotechnical care networks, paying attention both to the role of technologies in producing care as well as analysing who benefits from older people’s engagements with technology for care. The research draws on interviews with sixteen community dwelling older people, marketing materials of technologies used by those interviewed, the interface of an exchange platform and a patient portal used by some of those interviewed, as well as government documents. This data was analysed using network mapping, thematic analysis, and interface analysis. I ultimately demonstrate that digitally mediated care practices enact a ‘connected older citizen’. Through digitally mediated care practices, older people adjust (and are adjusted) to a culture of connectivity. Digitally mediated care involves new forms of labour. Social connection is framed as a core social value. I argue that digitally mediated self-care redefines independence in terms of the ability to use digital technologies to manage connections to reduce visible dependence on others. Notably, I show the imagined benefits of digitally mediated care are often not realised in practice due to limitations of technologies used in care (such as patient portals). Significantly, the priorities and needs of older people are not often at the forefront of digitally mediated care.
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    Becoming a ‘good’ Muslim woman : comparing habitus and everyday lived religiosity : an ethnographic study of Aotearoa New Zealand Muslim women : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023-11-10) Cheema, Hina Tabassum
    For women like us Every day isn’t about a sunrise Every night isn’t about a sunset Between our sunrise and sunset There are puzzles to solve Of the pictures never seen before Missing and broken pieces And bits mixed up from other puzzles But surprisingly Sometimes we make them And other times, they break us And occasionally They are left unsolved Lingering in on our minds Becoming part of us This thesis is an ethnographic study of everyday lived experiences of Muslim women immigrants in Aotearoa New Zealand. Through a focus on everyday lived religiosity, I explore the lives of Muslim women, who are extremely diverse and in the state of becoming as depicted in the poem. I extend Bourdieu’s theory of Habitus by introducing Comparing Habitus as an analytical tool which allows us to comprehend and analyse the diversity, multiplicity, complexity, intersubjectivity, heterogeneity, fluidity and unfinishedness of Muslim women’s lived experiences in Aotearoa NZ. I also use Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of becoming and Das’s theory of everyday to understand the complex and intersubjective ways of becoming ‘good’ Muslim women and their negotiations of everyday challenges in a non-Muslim context. I use the framework of lived religion to capture my participants' experiences to understand these experiences as ordinary Muslims; e.g., what Muslims do rather than what Islam says. The use of poetry and autoethnographic commentaries throughout the thesis adds another layer to the analysis to confer insights and to help understand my participants’ experiences in more depth. The study concludes that being a Muslim woman immigrant in Aotearoa NZ is an ongoing agentive and complex process that is continuously defined and redefined, not always in a linear direction. Muslim women make sense of their lives through engagement with other Muslim women and use comparison as one of the key strategies to make everyday decisions. My research participants are on journeys to understand Islam more logically, using their agency to actively negotiate situations, and are constantly engaged in finding meaning in their lives. The study suggests the need to understand Muslim women as cultural and social beings who actively negotiate their everyday challenges.