Colonizing the aged body and the organization of later life

Hyde, Paula, Burns, Diane, Hassard, John and Killett, Anne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4080-8365 (2014) Colonizing the aged body and the organization of later life. Organization Studies, 35 (11). pp. 1699-1717. ISSN 0170-8406

Preview

PDF (R2 colonizing the aged body pdf) - Draft Version Download (439kB) | Preview

Abstract

Based on fieldwork in residential homes, arrangements for the care of older people are examined with reference, primarily, to Deetz’ (1992) theory of ‘corporate colonization’. Extending this theory, it is argued that grouping such people in care homes can result in a form of social segregation, one that reflects the management of the aged body in relation to normative constructions of dependence. Focusing on the experiences of residents, the everyday effects of narratives of decline on disciplining the lives of older people are assessed, with this analysis taking recourse to the work of Foucault (1979). The result is the identification of three related concepts at work in the colonizing process of the aged body: (i) appropriation of the body – the physical and social practices involved in placing older people in care homes; (ii) separation from previous identities – how a range of new subjectivities are produced in the process of becoming a ‘resident’; and (iii) contesting colonized identities – the ways in which residents can attempt to challenge normative concepts of managed physical and mental decline. Overall the disciplining of the body is theorized not only as an adjunct to the notion of corporate colonization but also, more generally, as a prominent and powerful organizing principle of later life.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	age and ageing,corporate colonization,disciplinary power,organization theory,residential care
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Participation (former - to 2013) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Dementia & Complexity in Later Life Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	04 Nov 2014 12:44
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2023 01:23
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/50651
DOI:	10.1177/0170840614550735

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item