The ethics and politics of care. Mapping a critical category
Éthiques et politiques du care. Cartographie d’une catégorie critique
Résumé
Over the last ten years, care studies in France have adopted a critical view of liberal ethics and the legitimation of social inequalities, dialoguing with American feminist theorists in this field, particularly Carol Gilligan and Joan Tronto. Focusing on the conception of an ontologically vulnerable and relational subject, this perspective on care highlights the moral and political importance of caring for others in order to preserve a shared and livable world. Transdisciplinary work has thus captured different voices, previously obscured through the workings of gender, class or race: the voices of maids, caregivers, “comfort women”, or people with disabilities. This academic work has explored issues that the social sciences have traditionally devalued, such as non-medical care working, dependency, or the multiple attachments of humans to non-humans.