Ageing With Smartphones in Ireland: When Life Becomes Craft

There are not many books about howpeople get younger. It doesn't happen very often. But Ageing with Smartphones in Irelanddocuments a radical change in the experience ofageing.

Based on two ethnographies, onewithin Dublin and the other from the Dublin region, the book shows that people,rather than seeing themselves as old, focus on crafting a new life inretirement. Our research participants apply new ideals of sustainability bothto themselves and to their environment. They go for long walks, play bridge, doyoga, and keep as healthy as possible. As part of Ireland'smainstream middle class, they may have more time than the young to embracegreen ideals and more money to move to energy-efficient homes, throw outhousehold detritus and protect their environment.

The smartphone has become integralto this new trajectory. For some it is an intimidating burden linkedto being on the wrong side of a new digital divide. But for most,however, it has brought back the extended family and old friends, andhelped resolve intergenerational conflicts though facilitating new forms ofgrandparenting. It has also become central to health issues, whether by Googlinginformation or looking after frail parents. The smartphone enablesthis sense of getting younger as people download the music of their youth anddevelop new interests.

This is a book about acknowledging latemiddle age in contemporary Ireland. How do older people in Irelandexperience life today?  

Praise for Ageing with Smartphones in Ireland

'An innovative and thorough description and analysis of how one small piece of technology has changed the way Irish people live their lives.'
Tom Inglis, Professor Emeritus of Sociology in University College Dublin