ABSTRACT
Telecare is a form of technology that directly affects people’s lives. For many, the opportunity to support activities through technology is highly worthwhile. Those using telecare to support others are convinced of the benefits, yet these ‘advocates’ must survive in an atmosphere of administrative objectivity. This chapter is based on the ‘performative turn’ in a range of disciplines
including science and technology studies and social science more generally. It contrasts the performance of a telecare service as efficiency with its performativity through a conceptually based, layered analysis of the ‘Befriending Scheme’ run by the Community Resource Team (CRT) in Hackney, London. While the distinction between efficient performance and performativity is relatively clear, confusion is possible because of the use in some quarters of the term ‘performativity’ to refer to performance as efficiency. We will pursue this below with a discussion of Lyotard’s (1984) use of the term. What we are aiming for is an understanding of the performativity of age
and technology, which recognises the narrative and interactional aspects of the support service in terms of identity, relationships and the interplay between technology and people in real instances of ‘doing’ telecare. We do this through a conceptual formulation that combines performative identity from Judith Butler and Ann Bastings and the temporal unfolding of human technology interaction from Andrew Pickering and Ian Hutchby, and biographical accounts of technology from the earlier work of the author. This chapter also builds on an earlier study of telephone conferencing for
older people from a combined human-computer interaction, conversation analytic perspective (e.g. Reed 2003, 2004; Reed & Monk 2004; Monk & Reed 2007). An understanding of the ‘performativity of age and technology’ offers a possibility for transformation such that telecare services might significantly improve the life experiences of clients through reinvigorated roles, relationships and self-understanding.
