Autoethnographic Reflections on Ageing, Bodies, and Olding as Ontology of Care
Joanna Latimer | University of York
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.71106/MBZC7122
Publication: Volume 6 Issue 4
Excerpt | This piece traces how I became involved in social research, methodology, and theory—‘ways of knowing’—that are concerned with care, bodies, practices, intimacies, materialities, and affects. In the article I have focussed particularly on my early experiences with older people, as both a nurse and a sociologist, and on how I developed a critical, theoretically engaged ethnographic methodology. I know I couldn’t have become the writer, teacher, supervisor, and thinker that I have without my early experiences of doing care and becoming-with older people. These helped me realise that I needed to find ways to make visible how, where, and when older people are emplaced and marginalised, and how ‘ageing’ is situated in and by contemporary culture, including by the very institutions that supposedly support growing older—for example biomedicine, and health and social care.
Keywords | Ageing, Older People, Nursing Homes, Health Care, Autoethnography
Joanna Latimer (joanna.latimer@york.ac.uk) is Emerita Professor of Sociology and former Director of the Science & Technology Studies Unit (SATSU), University of York, England; Chair of the Board of Trustees, London Arts and Health; and Visiting Professor at Dementia Lifeworlds, University College Cork, Ireland. She is an accomplished sociologist with extensive experience in academia, leadership, and public engagement. She has made significant contributions to the field of medical sociology, gerontology, and science and technology studies. Joanna is adept at fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and promoting the impact of social sciences on healthcare and policy.
MLA Citation for this Article:
Latimer, Joanna. “Autoethnographic Reflections on Ageing, Bodies, and Olding as Ontology of Care.” Language, Literature, and Interdisciplinary Studies, vol. 6, no. 4, 16 Apr. 2025, pp. 1.37–1.51, https://doi.org/10.71106/MBZC7122.