Responses to vulnerability : care ethics and the technologisation of eldercare

Abstract

This article argues for a re-conceptualisation of care relations and uses the re-conceptualisation to scrutinise the way in which technology is adopted in eldercare practices. First, it draws on the definition of care as attentiveness to vulnerability, as used in the tradition of care ethics. Second, it specifies four essential aspects of care relations: relationality, dyadic mutuality, corporeality and devotion. Third, using socio-technical and phenomenological perspectives, care relations are contrasted with the idea of intertwining technological and human actors in care practices. Finally, using two adaptations of telecare as examples, the essential aspects of care relations are shown to be crucial for a thorough socio-technical understanding of eldercare and technology.