Care as Taking Part

After nearly forty years of discussion, contemporary feminist philosophies are pulling care ethics in two opposite directions. On the one hand, care is viewed through the lens of the 'crisis' it is said to be experiencing: a shortage is said to be affecting the Global North, driving migration and creating new forms of domination. In this context, care becomes a limited resource, the distribution of which must be reconsidered. On the other hand, care is merged with the categories and assumptions of ecofeminism. In this model, care is a skill assigned to women due to their supposed innate awareness of their connection with nature.

In contrast to these two models, I would like to propose a conception of care as participation (understood as taking part) in relationships and, simultaneously, in a political community. Care work is as much a result of political organisation as it is a means of constructing it, and it is important today to reflect on this 'taking part'.

This presentation will be an opportunity to reflect on the current worldwide rise of brutality, of “I don't care” as a political style, as well as the backlash against feminism that this has caused.