Coworking Spaces in Aotearoa New Zealand: Embodied Geographies of Care in Pandemic Times

Abstract

This chapter explores how coworking space operators in Aotearoa New Zealand create places that foster social change. Coworking spaces have become increasingly important sites for collaboration, innovation, and networking, as the digitalisation of work leads to a reconfiguration of work, workplace and workers. The digital geographies of work, however, are largely driven by a hegemonic and techno-capitalist stance that marginalises and devalues principles of care, affect and emotion under a capitalist neoliberal society. This chapter uses an embodied geographies of care approach to look at affective principles and practices shaping embodied experiences in coworking spaces. By drawing on interviews with operators and ethnographic accounts of 11 coworking spaces visited in Aotearoa New Zealand from March to June 2021, I explore the transformative potential of coworking spaces as places of care. In an increasingly digitalised and individualised world, this chapter aims to contribute to existing research by exploring embodied everyday practices of care in coworking spaces as extended spaces of care.