Cosmopolitanism and the Moral Economies of Aged Residential Care

Abstract

In this essay I contend that the aged care sector not only constitutes a political economy, but is at the same time a moral economy containing multiple contested moral spaces, purposes and standpoints. Global processes of cosmopolitanisation contain moral agendas that link macro level structures with local communities, families, individuals, workplaces, and organisations. The aged residential care (ARC) facility as a moral economy exemplifies vernacular cosmopolitanisation. The State shapes the moral economy of the New Zealand aged care sector through enforceable policies and regulations, while organisations and facilities compete in a neoliberal consumption-oriented marketplace. Those employed in the sector such as nurses and careworkers seek a living. Residents must find home within ARC, while their families expect they receive quality care from ARC facilities.