Care Ethics, Democratic Citizenship and the State

This book reflects on theoretical developments in the political theory of care and new applications of care ethics in different contexts. The chapters provide original and fresh perspectives on the seminal notions and topics of a politically formulated ethics of care. It covers concepts such as democratic citizenship, social and political participation, moral and political deliberation, solidarity and situated attentive knowledge. It engages with current debates on marketizing and privatizing care, and deals with issues of state care provision and democratic caring institutions. It speaks to the current political and societal challenges, including the crisis of Western democracy related to the rise of populism and identity politics worldwide. The book brings together perspectives of care theorists from three different continents and ten different countries and gives voice to their unique local insights from various socio-political and cultural contexts.Chapter 11 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

“Tronto’s analysis is helpful, as it offers a framework to distinguish four emerging characteristics of care ethics that become apparent in this volume. … the volume indicates what a combination of normative reflection, empirical research, and critical power analysis can contribute to making our societies more caring and more democratic.” (Pieter Dronkers, Contemporary Political Theory, January 14, 2021)

Petr Urban is Senior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic.Lizzie Ward is Principal Research Fellow in the School of Applied Social Science at the University of Brighton, UK.