Care in Context

Transnational gender perspectives

Care in Context is a thought-provoking book that looks at gender inequalities in the context of care. Drawing in part from unique transnational perspectives and gripping interviews, this book focuses on key questions that intellectuals, policy makers and all of us who care and need care have to ask, such as: What is good care? Who should be involved in providing it? And how should care be arranged and organized so that that the interests of both care givers and care recipients are equally provided for?
Care is indispensable to human flourishing. Without it we cannot survive. It is vital to the development of all individuals and to that of the broader society. Increasing economic and health problems have also contributed to mounting care crises in different parts of the world. With this view, the book offers fresh and nuanced perspectives and is a definite must read for all those affected by issues of care.



Endorsements

With its focus on care in Switzerland and South Africa, this book might appear to put an unusual pair side by side. It is refreshing and thought-provoking to have 'the north' and 'the south' compared in this way, and disturbing to see what this demonstrates. Differences aside, both countries are deeply conservative and patriarchal in the realm of family policies; there are serious gaps between social policies and practices; care policies and practices reproduce gender inequalities; the vast majority of carers, in families, in formal and informal economies, and in the volunteer sector, are women; and elderly people are not only care receivers, they also play a significant role in providing care to others. These well-referenced essays from a variety of disciplines constitute a rich resource for the study of care. They set an agenda for the next round of public debate and scholarship on care, both theoretical an empirical.

Care in Context brings together two of the most important themes and challenges of contemporary times: the care challenge, of how to shift the world away from uncaring and 'carelessness' towards care and caring, and the transnational challenge, of how to work between and across nations and locations. Care in Context is an important book, not only in terms of these urgent issues, but moreover as a model for further collaborations between 'the global North' and 'the global South'. I recommend it very warmly indeed. It is above all a contribution to peace and equality.

This compelling collection demystifies the meanings of care and puts the spotlight on its gendered dimensions in two different African and European contexts. The care domain is a critical axis of power, globally, that often misrecognizes women and makes their contributions to society invisible. Yet recognition of the care work performed by many women and some men, whether paid or unpaid, is vital to general wellbeing in the increasingly strained care and welfare regimes worldwide. Further building on the ground-breaking UNRISD study on care and gender, this volume carefully considers theory, models, policies and practices. Care in Context makes an important contribution to the knowledge gateway. It provides thoughtful, fresh and nuanced perspectives that offer a smart engagement with material issues across the South African and Swiss contexts and reanimates some of the emancipatory motives that inspire the ethics of care.