Anticipating and Negotiating Digital Care:

Sociotechnical Transformation Processes in the Care Context of Saxony-Anhalt

In my research, I examine the development and implementation of digital care technologies in Saxony-Anhalt, a region shaped by demographic change and the aftereffects of profound socioeconomic transformation processes. Here, digital technologies are presented not only as practical solutions but also positioned as drivers of regional transformation with a supra-regional model character. Based on ethnographic fieldwork I follow these technologies already in their emergence. In these early phases, various expectations, interests, and notions of good care are projected onto the possibilities of digitalization. I am particularly interested in participatory practice and learning spaces in which care workers, care recipients, tech developers, and policy makers jointly anticipate, negotiate, test, and ultimately release these technologies into institutional rhythms and everyday practices. I ask which needs and visions are represented in these technologies and who benefits from the promises of digital care. My research is embedded in the Medical Anthropology and Digital Transformation Lab (MADT-Lab).