What a Mediminder Does: Arranging Autonomy Through Technologies of Care

• In Event: Situated Ethics and Normativities in Knowledge Making and Communities of Practice - II

Abstract

This paper investigates cultural and relational expectations of autonomy in an independent living program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Drawing on 1.5 years of ethnographic observation at this program, I look at the work of technologies to mediate the interactions between staff and participants. I find that technologies play an important role in structuring interactions in order to preserve the autonomy of participants who are supported by program staff. They do this by focusing the content of evaluations of autonomy on specific sets of action, insulating participants’ autonomous social identity from undue scrutiny that might discount their independence in other contexts. As the focal point for action, technologies allow staff to intervene in and scrutinize the daily lives of participants without undermining their autonomy because staff act toward technologies and not participants. Finally, I find that technologies take on some of the work of participants and staff. What is unique about the actions performed by technologies is that they can be attributed to both staff and participants. This allows the participant to emerge as an autonomous actor even in the midst of their dependence on others. These findings engage research on assistive technology, especially their impact on shaping the social identities of people with disabilities, a political project closely tied to efforts to secure their civil rights. Research like this is particularly important for informing the design of state support for a broad range of dependent populations.

Author

• Adrianna Munson, Sociology, Columbia University