Posthumanist traditions and their possibilities for rural gerontology

This chapter presents an introduction to the posthumanist tradition for rural gerontologists. Taking humanistic work as a point of departure, we argue that posthumanism takes up a number of threads and ideas from humanistic rural gerontology and develops them to appreciate a number of themes. In particular we identify three approaches that posthumanist thought brings forward. First, we explore ageing in the rural as performed and experienced via non-representational theories. Second, we consider affect and emotion to explore ageing as enacted and performed rurally by open and vital bodies. Third, we reflect on ageing as emergent through relational material rural assemblages. This chapter provides the genesis for scholars of rural ageing to see how a number of posthumanistic perspectives can inform their own research and thus provide a way for them to engage in these debates.