Ordinary Prosthetics: An Essay on Dementia and Alienation in Quebec

Based on fieldwork in Quebec, in a home for 14 older people who were diagnosed with dementia - the Carpe Diem - the central proposal of this article is to suggest "alienation" as a way to rethink dementia care. This is based on the insight that the notion of personhood can become a fallacy of care when understood as continuity with the past and empathy, as is often the case in person-centered care. Alienation here consists of three central elements: ordinariness, prosthetics, and a critical reflection on origins, by paying attention to "what is wrong" in assemblages of care.