Leader of the WP

Objectives

In conjunction with other work packages, the objectives are as follows:

1. To conduct comparative fieldwork between the North and the South in a variety of socio-cultural contexts;
2. To develop spaces dedicated to reflection and writing on these themes;
3. To facilitate joint activities focused on training and the dissemination and promotion of research.

These initiatives are carried out as part of several mobility programmes, covering the following three areas:

1. Health, gender and sexuality;
2. Vulnerability policies;
3. The body and material cultures.

General Scientific Rationale

WP 4 focuses on the relationship between the body, age, and life course.

The work package 4 will examine in particular experiences of health and illness, how they influence life trajectories, and how people navigate different stages of life and the transitions between them.

It explores how people “cope with” their illness and maintain their health through practices that vary according to age and the stage of life.

It also analyzes the role of medicalization and health-centered approaches in shaping, supporting, and guiding age and life courses, as well as forms of preventive medicine intended to optimize life trajectories and transitions considered particularly sensitive (e.g., pregnancy).

The research conducted in this WP also addresses the challenges and hardships associated with chronic or rare diseases and disabilities, which position those affected as either “ahead of” or “behind” what is socially expected for their age. These forms of desynchronization serve as powerful indicators of the social and historical models of life courses and life stages within a given society.

The health and care practices examined in this work package encompass issues related to mental, physical, and sexual health. They will be analyzed at different life stages and within various care settings and forms, whether family-based and domestic, or institutional and medicalized.

Transitions, moments of accelerated transformation, and crises (illnesses, accidents, misfortunes) take shape within a biological and social materiality. Technical instruments, digital devices, and objects of care or consumption shape the body throughout life. Thus, health, nutrition, personal hygiene, and aesthetic practices are inseparable from processes of incorporating an entire material culture that gives meaning to and constructs the stages of existence. In this WP, we will focus on these processes of incorporating objects and on the self-care techniques they elicit and establish.

A North-South comparison will allow for a more nuanced understanding of these issues, in light of the diversity of sociopolitical, economic, and cultural contexts that exert a significant influence on the relationship to the body, illness, and care.

Deliverables

D4.1 – Fieldwork Reports

A Report will be created halfway through the duration of the project in order to assess the good conduct and the results of the Fieldwork that took place in the first 24 month of the project.

D4.2 – Report on "Material cultures, observation of bodily techniques, and health innovations and participatory methods”      

Within the framework of the Training Programs on "Materials Cultures, Observation of Bodily Techniques, and Health" a Report will be created at the end, demonstrating that the activities have been successfully carried out and the results achieved during the activity.