Living Alone towards the End of Life

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Seale

ABSTRACTDrawing on the accounts given by 163 relatives, friends and others who knew a sample of people who lived alone in the last twelve months of their lives, this paper examines a variety of strategies used by speakers to maintain their moral identities. Respondents sought to locate themselves as members of a community of care by stressing their activity in surveillance of the living conditions of those who lived alone, describing their part in the orchestration of help by members of a team of professional and lay carers, and in conducting negotiations over the placement in institutions of people who failed to maintain adequate reputations for independent living. A variety of strategies for justifying or excusing placement decisions—including criticisms of the behaviour of the people who lived alone—are described. At the same time, the accounts are read as a resource for understanding the perspective of the people who lived alone. People who live alone towards the end of life face particularly pressing threats to their capacity to maintain meaning and purpose. Declining physical capacity threatens loss of control and the onset of social death, conspiring to undermine ontological security. The struggle to maintain a reputation for independence in the face of neighbourly surveillance for signs of slippage is described. The paper concludes by identifying a central dilemma for carers: how to provide care that allows its recipient to manage self-identity independently.

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gill Green

Powerlessness generally denotes loss of control and may be experienced among those with a terminal diagnosis and, as such, empowerment is a dominant discourse in end-of-life policy in the western Anglo-Saxon world. This paper analyzes thematically blogs authored by three people with a terminal diagnosis to examine the “power to be oneself,” a concept which was identified in the “Ethics of Powerlessness” project conducted in the UK. The analysis demonstrates that the bloggers assert the “power to be themselves” which is expressed in three principal ways. Firstly, through assertion of agency to promote self-affirmation and control. Secondly, through claiming a “moral authority” expressed by providing advice not just on illness and death but also on how life should be lived. Thirdly, through discussing ideas about the future and creating a legacy. The blogs are a mechanism used to express and reinforce self-identity and to carve out a “sacred space” between life and death to nurture personal change and to project this onto a public arena. This analysis demonstrates the key role patient empowerment plays in constructing an identity with a terminal diagnosis, an element that is often overlooked in end-of-life policy.


2020 ◽  
pp. 004711782096181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Teles Fazendeiro

States, governments and leaders often reject one another’s role prescriptions. They stick to enacting their role, what they consider to be their central purpose and main promise within a given international society. By applying the main tenets of role theory, this essay looks at the reasons why actors sometimes reject the prescriptions of others, including attempts at bargaining. Rather than claiming that those prescriptions are rejected on account of the pursuit of self-identity or ontological security, this essay suggests that those positions have more to do with defending the public credibility of one’s master role, the core promise made by an actor to (domestic and/or international) audiences. Master roles have to do with the main promises of an actor in a given social and political order, thereby providing credibility to a domestic and international audience. Without maintaining credibility, the actor is unlikely to be able to fulfil master and auxiliary roles as initially set out. The essay contributes to role theory in three ways: by looking beyond explanations centred on identification and ontological security, by conversely building upon public credibility, and also by showing how audiences and roles matter to illiberal regimes. To illustrate the argument, the essay addresses the government of Uzbekistan’s attempt to keep credibility in the face of Russian altercasting in the 1990s.


Somatechnics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-194
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Kotwasińska

The article offers a re-examination of abjected femininity and old age through a close reading of The Taking of Deborah Logan (2015), a found footage horror movie centered on spectral possession. While to a large extent the movie replicates an infamous monstrous old woman trope, it also effectively questions typical Alzheimer's disease (AD) narratives, which tend to portray life with AD as a story of unmitigated loss and debility. In The Taking of Deborah Logan, potentially destabilizing moments occur when in the face of progressive loss of control, memory, and bodily functions, the main protagonist is momentarily experienced as resisting the dehumanisation and loss of agency conventionally associated with AD and possession alike. The aim of this article is thus three-fold. The first part sketches the processes through which possession narratives generate a highly ambivalent space for aging femininity in horror film, and how aging, disability, and AD intersect both in popular understanding and in film. In the second part, the author examines how The Taking of Deborah Logan, as a found footage horror, shapes a discussion about selfhood, agency, and monstrous embodiment. Finally, the author argues that it is through the concept of transaging that one can find ways to destabilise traditional understandings of old age, female embodiment, and AD, and offer new narratives that highlight monstrous, if ambivalent, agency.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Lina Aniqoh

This paper seeks to elaborate on the textual interpretation of Q.S Muhammad verse 4 and Q.S at Taubah verse 5. These two verses are often employed by the extremist Muslim groups to legitimize their destructive acts carried out on groups considered as being infidels and as such lawfully killed. The interpretation was conducted using the double movement hermeneutics methodology offered by Fazlur Rahman. After reinterpretation, the two verses contain moral values, namely the war ordered by God must be reactive, fulfill the ethics of "violence" and be the last solution. Broadly speaking, the warfare commanded in the Qur'an aims to establish a benefit for humanity on the face of the earth by eliminating every crime that exists. These two verses in the contemporary socio-historical context in Indonesia can be implemented as a basis for combating the issue of hoaxes and destructive acts of extremist Muslim groups. Because both are crimes and have negative implications for the people good and even able to threaten the unity of mankind.


1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-29
Author(s):  
Mukroji Mukroji

Basically, Islamic education is a continuous, sustainable, and everlasting process of human life. Duties and functions of education are targeted at learners who continue to grow and evolve dynamically, starting from the womb until the end of life. Educational success cannot be separated from the educators, who are essentially the people having the responsibility to educate, guide, direct and lead their learners to get of success both in this world and in the hereafter. Therefore, qualified educators and professionals should have specific criteria and requirements that must be met in order to achieve the purpose of life, and also the properties that adorn his personal duty and responsibility as educators in the view of Islam. A good educator is a person who pays attention to the duties and responsibilities to the students, based on faith and piety to God, and also able to develop the potentials of either the inner or outer (physical, psychological, and spiritual). Pada hakikatnya, pendidikan Islam adalah suatu proses yang berlangsung secara kontinyu dan berkesinambungan dalam kehidupan manusia dan berlangsung sepanjang hayat. Tugas dan fungsi pendidikan memiliki sasaran pada peserta didik yang senantiasa tumbuh dan berkembang secara dinamis, mulai dari kandungan sampai akhir hayatnya dan keberhasilan pendidikan tidak lepas dari aspek pendidik. Pendidik pada hakekatnya adalah orang yang telah mendapatkan amanat dan mempunyai tanggung jawab dunia akherat dalam mendidik, membimbing, mengarahkan dan mengantarkan peserta didik ke gerbang kesuksesan baik di dunia maupun di akherat. Oleh karena itu untuk menjadi pendidik yang berkualitas dan profesional harus memiliki kriteria dan persyaratan tertentu yang harus dipenuhi dalam rangka pencapaian tujuan hidup dan juga sifat-sifat yang menghiasi pribadinya dalam menjalankan tugas dan tanggungjawab sebagai pendidik dalam pandangan Islam. Pendidik yang baik adalah pendidik yang memperhatikan tugas dan tanggung jawabnya terhadap peserta didik, yang dilandasi iman dan taqwa kepada Allah SWT, dan juga mampu mengembangkan potensi yang ada baik lahir maupun batin (jasmani, psikis, maupun rohani).


Trictrac ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petru Adrian Danciu

Starting from the cry of the seraphim in Isaiahʹ s prophecy, this article aims to follow the rhythm of the sacred harmony, transcending the symbols of the angelic world and of the divine names, to get to the face to face meeting between man and God, just as the seraphim, reflecting their existence, stand face to face. The finality of the sacred harmony is that, during the search for God inside the human being, He reveals Himself, which is the reason for the affirmation of “I Am that I Am.” Through its hypnotic cyclicality, the profane temporality has its own musicality. Its purpose is to incubate the unsuspected potencies of the beings “caught” in the material world. Due to the fact that it belongs to the aeonic time, the divine music will exceed in harmony the mechanical musicality of profane time, dilating and temporarily cancelling it. Isaiah is witness to such revelation offering access to the heavenly concert. He is witness to divine harmonies produced by two divine singers, whose musical history is presented in our article. The seraphim accompanied the chosen people after their exodus from Egypt. The cultic use of the trumpet is related to the characteristics and behaviour of the seraphim. The seraphic music does not belong to the Creator, but its lyrics speak about the presence of the Creator in two realities, a spiritual and a material one. Only the transcendence of the divine names that are sung/cried affirms a unique reality: God. The chant-cry is a divine invocation with a double aim. On the one hand, the angels and the people affirm God’s presence and call His name and, on the other, the Creator affirms His presence through the angels or in man, the one who is His image and His likeness. The divine music does not only create, it is also a means of communion, implementing the relation of man to God and, thus, God’s connection with man. It is a relation in which both filiation and paternity disappear inside the harmony of the mutual recognition produced by music, a reality much older than Adam’s language.


Author(s):  
Ashish D Patel ◽  
Jigarkumar H. Shah

The aged population of the world is increasing by a large factor due to the availability of medical and other facilities. As the number grows rapidly, requirements of this segment of age (65+) are increasing rapidly as well as the percentage of aged persons living alone is also increasing with the same rate due to the inevitable socio-economic changes. This situation demands the solution of many problems like loneliness, chronic conditions, social interaction, transportation, day-to-day life and many more for independent living person. A large part of aged population may not be able to interact directly with new technologies. This sought some serious development towards the use of intelligent systems i.e. smart devices which helps the people with their inability to use the available as well future solutions. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is the answer to these problems. In this paper, issues related to AAL systems are studied. Study of challenges and limitations of this comparatively new field will help the designers to remove the barriers of AAL systems.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
abdul muiz amir

This study aims to find a power relation as a discourse played by the clerics as the Prophet's heir in the contestation of political event in the (the elections) of 2019 in Indonesia. The method used is qualitative based on the critical teory paradigm. Data gathered through literary studies were later analyzed based on Michel Foucault's genealogy-structuralism based on historical archival data. The findings show that, (1) The involvement of scholars in the Pemilu-Pilpres 2019 was triggered by a religious issue that has been through online social media against the anti-Islamic political system, pro communism and liberalism. Consequently create two strongholds from the scholars, namely the pro stronghold of the issue pioneered by the GNPF-Ulama, and the fortress that dismissed the issue as part of the political intrigue pioneered by Ormas NU; (2) genealogically the role of scholars from time to time underwent transformation. At first the Ulama played his role as well as Umara, then shifted also agent of control to bring the dynamization between the issue of religion and state, to transform into motivator and mediator in the face of various issues Practical politic event, especially at Pemilu-Pilpres 2019. Discussion of the role of Ulama in the end resulted in a reduction of the role of Ulama as the heir of the prophet, from the agent Uswatun Hasanah and Rahmatan lil-' ālamīn as a people, now shifted into an agent that can trigger the division of the people.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-37
Author(s):  
Dwi Putri Agustini

The present phenomenon has clearly brought a change and the influence of the development of traditional music in Palembang society, if this is not carefully addressed, it will experience a shift, alienation and even lose its supporters. The rejung pesirah music group is one of the music groups that still maintains traditional arts in the people of Palembang. This study examines how the adaptation strategy of the rejung pesirah music group in dealing with changes and developments in Palembang society. For this reason, the approach used is cultural anthropology with qualitative case study research methods in Palembang. Data collection is done through observation, interviews and document studies that use triangulation techniques as the validation of the data, while for data analysis through content analysis and interactive models. The results showed that the adaptation strategy undertaken by the rejung pesirah music group was an act and creative ability and had a positive mindset, understanding in responding to changes and needs as an impulse to develop in the face of environmental change and development through learning processes and cultural modification, which resulted a creativity that is the creation of songs, musical arrangements, and musical instruments in the rejung pesirah music group.


2020 ◽  
pp. 030981682098238
Author(s):  
Miloš Šumonja

The news is old – neoliberalism is dead for good, but this time, even Financial Times knows it. Obituaries claim that it had died from the coronavirus, as the state, not the markets, have had to save both the people and the economy. The argument of the article is that these academic and media interpretations of ‘emergency Keynesianism’ misidentify neoliberalism with its anti-statist rhetoric. For neoliberalism is, and has always been, about ‘the free market and the strong state’. In fact, rather than waning in the face of the coronavirus crisis, neoliberal states around the world are using the ongoing ‘war against the virus’ to strengthen their right-hand grip on the conditions of the working classes.


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