Capturing space
aging, (dis-)placement, or making room
pp. 97-109
in: Mark Schweda, Michael Coors, Claudia Bozzaro (eds), Aging and human nature, Berlin, Springer, 2020Abstract
Aging is rarely considered in relation to spatial concepts. However, a closer look reveals that the concepts of space and place, living and dwelling are essential to questions about the life and care of older people. The spatiality of one's own being, the possibility of capturing space for oneself and of moving from place to place, is crucial to human life – not only for a young person, but especially, and in a more existential way, for someone older. From an anthropological perspective, the spatial dimension of aging appears particularly relevant for the constitution of the self, its borders, limitations, and bodily vulnerabilities, as well as for its relations to and treatment by others. In this contribution, I argue that a focus on space can reveal a particular dependency on the surrounding world, on the bodily inhabitation of space, and on other people's view.