Publication date: 16 June 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781800088443
Number of pages: 200
Number of illustrations: 17
Digital Repertoires
Embedded and everyday technologies in later life
Riitta Hänninen (Editor), Sakari Taipale (Editor), Laura Haapio-Kirk (Editor)
Digital Repertoires explores the intersection between ageing and technology, presenting the concept of ‘digital repertoire’ as a powerful tool for researchers across disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, gerontology, public policy, communication studies and design. This book offers new theoretical and empirical insights, and highlights the diverse ways in which older adults engage with digital technologies across five continents. With studies from Australia, Brazil, Finland, Japan, the Philippines and Sweden, the book provides a global and cross-cultural analysis on a pressing issue.
The notion of the digital repertoire has broad appeal, making this book relevant not only to scholars and practitioners focused on ageing but to anyone interested in the heterogeneity of digital technology use across different age groups and cultural contexts. With a balanced approach that combines conceptual, theoretical and empirical perspectives, this volume is an essential resource for teaching, research and practice in the ever-evolving field of digital technology studies, as well as the development of technology for older adults.
List of figures
List of contributors
Acknowledgements
Part I: Re-conceptualising digital heterogeneity
1 Introduction: older adults navigating digital technologies
Sakari Taipale, Riitta Hänninen and Laura Haapio-Kirk
2 From digital skills to digital repertoires: towards a more inclusive conceptualisation of technology use in an aging society
Loredana Ivan
Part II: Digital repertoires in everyday life
3 Exploring the key elements of digital repertoire: the meaning of new technology in later life
Riitta Hänninen and Sakari Taipale
4 Lives on hold? Ageing migrants’ affective digital repertoires during lockdowns in Victoria, Australia
Earvin Charles Cabalquinto
5 Digital repertoires of care in Japan: a participatory visual approach
Laura Haapio-Kirk
Part III: Mundane practices and visual methods
6 Ageing in digitalised Brazil: using the ‘Brazilian way’ to compensate for lower digital skills
Marília Duque and Emilene Zitkus
7 Uncovering older adults’ digital repertoires for designing conversational scenarios: graphic transcript as a design method
Sanna Kuoppamäki, Mikaela Hellstrand and Donald McMillan
8 Epilogue
Daniel Miller
Index
DOI: 10.14324/111.9781800088443
Number of pages: 200
Number of illustrations: 17
Publication date: 16 June 2025
PDF ISBN: 9781800088443
EPUB ISBN: 9781800088467
Hardback ISBN: 9781800088436
Paperback ISBN: 9781800088450
Riitta Hänninen (Editor)
Riitta Hänninen is Adjunct Professor and Senior Researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Sakari Taipale (Editor)
Sakari Taipale is Professor of Social and Public Policy at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Laura Haapio-Kirk (Editor) 
Laura Haapio-Kirk is Junior Research Fellow in Social Anthropology at Christ Church, University of Oxford.
‘This fascinating volume offers a novel approach to studying older people’s engagement with and use of digital technologies through the conceptual framework of “digital repertoires”. Contrasted with approaches that highlight exclusion, lack of access or skills among the older population, the focus throughout this book is with their everyday, active engagement with technology. Neither patronising nor woeful, the book illustrates how digital technologies are being integrated into older people’s lives around the globe.’
Chris Gilleard, UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, UK
‘Besides being an invaluable resource for social sciences, health sciences, and computer sciences, this book is a must-read for educational scientists. It challenges the dominant “digital skills” concept, thereby inviting us to rethink older adult education policy, research and practice.’
Päivi Rasi-Heikkinen, University of Lapland, Finland
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