Examining young people’s body experiences in the caring space and in their images and digital practices: A case study of L’Arche community homes in Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada

To consider how the digital generation experiences and presents the body, we examine two opposed spaces that present the body: the “caring space” in situ and the “digital space.” For an example of the caring space, we chose the L’Arche community, where people with intellectual disabilities and assistants live together in a house and share everyday life. Specifically, we examine the L’Arche community in Japan and its website. In addition to the fieldwork we regularly conducted there beginning in 2012, we also refer to other fieldwork conducted in four communities in the West. We also examine a student’s dissertation on her experience as an assistant in a L’Arche home. Among the theories of space used, we refer to Edward T. Hall’s theory of proxemics and to three keywords: “belonging,” the foundation of the philosophy of Jean Vanier (the founder of L’Arche); “In-Place,” the foundation of Milton Mayeroff’s studies on “caring”; and Hannah Arendt’s “space of appearance.” In the conclusion, we highlight the notions of the “uncontrolled” body and the body “at will.”