9. Carescape: Migrants working in aged care

Structure & Agency

 How did you get to class or work today? 

If you drove, you: 

• (a) had a range of roads available to you. 
• (b) chose which route to take. 

If you took public transport, you: 

• (a) had trains, buses, or trams running on particular routes and timetables. 
• (b) chose which service to catch. 

If you travelled another way, explain: 

• (a) the physical and social arrangements that made your journey possible.
• (b) the choices you made within those arrangements. 

In the examples above, does "structure" describe (a) or (b)? What about "agency"? 

 Anthropologists often distinguish between structure and agency. 

• "Structure" refers to the social, economic, political, and physical arrangements that shape what people can do. Structures create opportunities but also impose limits. 
• "Agency" refers to a person's capacity to make choices and act within those structures.

We cannot act with complete freedom, but neither are we completely controlled by structures. Most human action involves the interaction of both. 

A daughter may choose to care for an ageing parent (agency), but that choice is shaped by structures such as family expectations, government policies, work commitments, and available services (structure). She may, alternatively, choose to employ a migrant woman to do the work. 

Migrant women in elderly care

What is the care industry? How is it different from care in the family?

Do you know any migrants working in care?

Buch (2015) notes that:

“Many countries experiencing rapidly aging populations rely on immigrant care workers, whose status, working conditions, and ability to organize are highly responsive to national migration and labor laws. Restrictions on migrants’ legal status may trap them in poorly paid and frequently exploitative jobs while limiting their participation in communal social life … migrant women from poor countries also play a key role in elder care in many wealthy nations.”

What is a structure? Find 3 examples in the above.

Let's consider this problem of aged care deficit and potential solutions.

1. A win-win? Compare Australia

Migrant workers provide essential elderly care worldwide, often filling labour shortages, while navigating cultural expectations, legal barriers, and gendered or racialised stereotypes about caregiving. How is Australia managing?

Read: A win-win, for providers and workers (Australian Ageing Agenda, 29 April 2025), 

• What’s one structural factor (economic, legal, social, or cultural) you noticed shaping the program? 
• How might this program give Indonesian participants new opportunities? What are the potential pitfalls?
• How does the article reflect ideas about who is “naturally suited” to care work? 

2. Structures & the Carescape

One way to figure out structure & agency is as part of a carescape. The flow chart below (from Winarnita et al 2025 and shown in Winarnita's lecture) shows the different factors shaping elderly care by migrant workers, and how they connect. It’s a visual map — start at the top, follow the arrows, and see how one factor leads to another. 

• Where in the chart do you see the structures (economic, legal, social, cultural) influencing care? 
• Which parts of the chart show agency — the choices and actions of migrant workers?

3. Carescape of Indonesian aged-care workers in Japan

When creating genealogies in Week 2, we saw that diagrams aren't perfect; diagrams can't capture everything. That said, can you create a similar diagram? Let's focus on Japan. Using Lan's article "Deferential Surrogates and Professional Other" and Winarnita's lecture see if you can draw your own Carescape chart. Use pen and paper, take a photo, upload it, and provide a brief description.

OR EASIER ACTIVITY
Use this word document and drag and drop as described in this video this video.