CareVisions Project & ISS21
Prof. Janice McLaughlin, Newcastle University.
Monday 24 April, 15.00-16.30
Online via MS Teams Register attendance on Eventbrite
The concept of care is one of the key points of tension between some aspects of feminist theorising and disability studies. The tension first appeared due to feminist work in the 1970s that argued that women needed to be free of caring responsibilities, with no consideration of what that might mean for those being cared for. When feminist ethics of care work later sought to build moral and political frameworks around care, disability studies scholars also saw that move as disconnected from the ways in which care has been a source of harm for disabled people. The disability movement in contrast has advocated for support and assistance being an important part of enabling independent living. More recently care is being returned to within feminist and disability work looking to refute state narratives of neo-liberalism that emphasise self-reliance as the only legitimate version of independence. This presentation explores contemporary debates on care and considers whether and how we can work productively with the concept. It advocates for including care in challenging the social harms that occur to disabled people and people living with chronic illness, but in a way that does not absolve the state from responding to the inequalities that create them.