The problems and possibilities of mobility for home-based elders in New Zealand

Authors

  • Juliana Ruth Mansvelt Massey University.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol9iss1id191

Keywords:

ageing, mobility, home-based, connection

Abstract

Physical immobility can be a means of social and spatial exclusion. Qualitative interviews with 19 home-based elders aged 65-96 about their interactions with a range of public and private service providers show that concepts of mobility are not dependent on the physical ability to move, but centre on the ways in which people are able to, as part of socio-technical networks, connect with others and make things flow both within and across the boundaries of home. In highlighting three themes (getting out, letting in and finding a way) we suggest that home-based elders are not inactive or immobile, rather their mobile practices centre on connection rather than corporeal travel. A relational view of mobility as ‘connection’ which is ‘more than human’ consequently enables us to understand the problems and possibilities of being differently mobile and the practical implications of this.

Author Biography

Juliana Ruth Mansvelt, Massey University.

Senior Lecturer in Geography, School of People, Environment and Planning

Downloads

Published

05-06-2012

How to Cite

Mansvelt, J. R. (2012). The problems and possibilities of mobility for home-based elders in New Zealand. Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, 9(1), 107–132. https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol9iss1id191

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1 (2012)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright © in this published form is held by Sites: New Series, Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa New Zealand, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Individual readers and non-profit libraries acting for them, are permitted to print or download a single copy of an article without charge for use in research or teaching. Permitted use includes providing a link to an article, or hosting a PDF article in online Learning Management Systems or E-Reserve Systems for authorised users. A single article may be used in print or online Course Packs. Interlibrary loan is permitted. New Zealand Copyright Law and Copyright Licensing New Zealand Education Licence provisions apply. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works or for resale. For such uses, written permission is required. Write to the Editor: sites@otago.ac.nz