Socio-gerontechnology: Interdisciplinary Critical Studies of Ageing and Technology

Socio-gerontechnology is a new academic field that explores the intersection of ageing societies and technological change. It outlines common conceptual, theoretical, and methodological ideas in the critical scholarship on ageing and technology. The book consists of 15 original chapters, three commentaries, and an afterword, providing a unique understanding of ageing and technology from a social sciences and humanities perspective. It contributes to the development of new ontologies, methodologies, and theories for policy and design.

Format: Hardback
Length: 262 pages
Publication date: 24 March 2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

In the twenty-first century, social change is profoundly influenced by a convergence of demographic shifts linked to aging societies and significant technological advancements. This transformative era gives rise to a new academic field called socio-gerontechnology, which delves into the intricate interplay between aging and technology. This comprehensive book explores common conceptual, theoretical, and methodological ideas that emerge in the critical scholarship on aging and technology at the intersection of Age Studies and Science and Technology Studies (STS). Comprising 15 original chapters, three commentaries, and an afterword, the book explores how aging and technology are already intertwined and constantly evolving in Western societies. Topics covered span a wide range of socio-material domains, including care robots, social media usage, aging-in-place technologies, the performativity of user involvement and public consultations, dementia care, and many others. Together, these chapters offer a distinctive perspective on aging and technology from the social sciences and humanities, contributing to the development of new ontologies, methodologies, and theories that can serve as both critiques and inspirations for policy and design.

Socio-gerontechnology is a truly international endeavor, with contributions from renowned scholars across the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. This agenda-setting text serves as an invaluable introduction for students and early career researchers, as well as for more established scholars who are passionate about aging and technology. Chapters 3, 5, and 15 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Weight: 556g
Dimension: 162 x 242 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367230821