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A Posthumanist Perspective on Dementia

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Lifelong Learning and Dementia

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning ((PSAELL))

Abstract

This chapter introduces those posthuman ideas that we have found most useful in our research with people with dementia. These include: ‘thing power’ , ‘intra-activity’ , ‘agentic assemblages’, ‘affinity’, ‘trans-corporeality’, ‘submersion’ and ‘potentia’. We show how we have used them, drawing on ‘data events’ from our studies. The methodological issues raised by posthumanism are also discussed and our own practice critiqued. The chapter also acknowledges that posthumanism does have limitations, for example, in addressing the classed structure of dementia care. We discuss how a posthuman ethics has been addressed and present a posthuman ethics of rights for working with people with dementia. This suggests that lifelong learning for people with dementia is not a luxury, but a right.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plymouth Institute of Education, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK

    Jocey Quinn & Claudia Blandon

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  1. Jocey Quinn
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  2. Claudia Blandon
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Correspondence to Jocey Quinn .

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Quinn, J., Blandon, C. (2020). A Posthumanist Perspective on Dementia. In: Lifelong Learning and Dementia. Palgrave Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42231-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42231-8_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-42230-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-42231-8

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