PhD defence by Constance Liliane Patterson Dupuis

She challenges dominant assumptions and power dynamics in the field of aging studies. It opens a dialogue between aging studies, critical gerontology, feminist political ecology, and decolonial feminisms. This work explores the intersection of care for older adults and care for nature, emphasizing the mutually constitutive relationship between wellbeing in later life and environmental wellbeing. The chapters unfold as follows:

1. Examining aging as a complex biopolitical process.
2. Navigating ethical considerations in aging research with insights from feminist research ethics.
3. Discussing the embodied experiences and agency of older people in the context of feminist political ecology.
4. Learning from Zapatista praxis about connecting across differences and settler colonial places.
5. Exploring a complex understanding of wellbeing and relational care through intergenerational and more-than-human care in an older woman’s garden.

This thesis underscores the significance of relationality, mutual care, and more-than-human connections in the study of aging.

Doctoral Board

Chair

Professor Arjun Bedi

Doctoral dissertation supervisors

Professor Wendy Harcourt
Professor Rosalba Icaza Garza

Full Doctoral Committee

• Dr Yvonne Underhill-Sem, University of Auckland
• Professor Giovanna Di Chiro, Swarthmore College
• Professor Stephen Katz, Trent University, Canada
• Dr Vasna Ramasar, University of Lund
• Professor Inge Hutter, ISS

• Dr Julien Francois Gerber, ISS