Department of Anthropology Universitas Gadjah Mada invites all academic civitas to join the visiting lecture from Dr. Katharina Schneider (Katholische Hochschule für Sozialwesen Berlin) titled “Ageing and Digital Welfare on the German-Polish Border”
The lecture will be held on Wednesday, April 1st, 2026, from 15.00 to 16.30 WIB at Room Soegondo 709, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. This event is open to the public, and students are highly encouraged to attend.
Abstract:
How do older adults perceive, evaluate and participate in efforts at digitalizing public services, especially those that are meant to support them in ageing well? Recent research, both on older adults as (non-)users of technology and on digital welfare, challenges the assumption that digitalization would provide an easy solution to population ageing, and to the economic, political and social challenges associated with it. Investigations into digitalization processes and their impacts on frontline workers and citizens indicate shifts in infrastructure, labor and power relations with implications far beyond service delivery. This presentation reports on two ongoing projects that build on this literature. Both projects are situated in an area along the German-Polish border with a high average age that has been severely affected by 30+ years of structural adjustments. They use a combination of ethnographic and participatory methods to support participation by older adults in the design and implementation of digital welfare services. The projects are part of the collaborative research transfer initiative supported by the Federal Ministry of Research (BMFTR; T!-Raum AlterPerimentale).
