School of Geography, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.
School of Geographical Sciences, Guangzhou University, Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jun 8;17(11):4091. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17114091.
In this paper, we argue that research on the everyday life of older people needs to move beyond anthropocentrism because non-human support contributes to the diversity of their social networks. We elaborate this argument by examining how companion dogs are involved in the urban empty-nest family in Guangzhou (an aging and highly urbanized city in China), the building of multispecies kinships by urban empty nesters in later life and improving the health of urban empty nesters. Participatory observations and 20 in-depth interviews were combined to assess the association between dog ownership and the reconstruction of later life. Specifically, we focus on the co-disciplined pursuit of outdoor activities by urban empty nesters and their companion dogs; this pursuit represents a shared leisure practice that maintains multispecies kinship and is a creative way for older individuals to improve their happiness and physical functioning. This paper provides a relational and reflective understanding of the interaction between the urban empty nesters and companion dogs and the implications of this interaction in the urban leisure space.
在本文中，我们认为，有关老年人日常生活的研究需要超越人类中心主义，因为非人类的支持有助于他们社会网络的多样化。我们通过考察伴侣犬如何参与广州（中国一个老龄化和高度城市化的城市）的城市空巢家庭、城市空巢老人在晚年如何建立多种物种的亲缘关系以及如何改善城市空巢老人的健康状况，来详细阐述这一观点。参与式观察和 20 次深入访谈相结合，评估了养狗与晚年生活重构之间的关联。具体来说，我们关注的是城市空巢老人及其伴侣犬共同追求户外活动；这种追求代表了一种共同的休闲实践，维持着多种物种的亲缘关系，也是老年人提高幸福感和身体机能的一种创造性方式。本文提供了一种对城市空巢老人和伴侣犬之间互动的关系性和反思性理解，以及这种互动在城市休闲空间中的意义。
