Care Crisis: What Caused It and How Can We End It?

The Care Crisis explores the complex relationship between care, power, and the economy, challenging the idea that people have stopped caring and advocating for more compassionate and empathetic behavior. It highlights the devastating impact of financialization and austerity on care and calls for a deeper understanding of the value of care.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 256 pages
\n Publication date: 26 January 2021
\n Publisher: Verso Books
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Valuing care and care work goes beyond attributing them a mere monetary value. To truly bring about change, we must delve deeper. In her groundbreaking book, Emma Dowling explores the multifaceted nature of care in the modern world, delving into the mantras of self-care and their implications regarding our anxieties. She also examines the intricate relationships between power, profitability, and care, exposing the devastating consequences of financialization and austerity.

As the world appears to grow increasingly uncaring, the demand for individuals to be more compassionate and empathetic towards one another grows louder. The Care Crisis challenges the notion that people have ever stopped caring but acknowledges that the deep and complex crises of our time require a more comprehensive approach. It does not propose a simple (re)instillation of empathy as the solution.

The Care Crisis delves into the ways in which the burden of care is offloaded onto underpaid and unpaid realms of society, intertwining with commodification, marketization, and financialization to create the current state of affairs. It charts the ongoing experiments in short-term fixes to the care crisis in Britain, with austerity serving as the backdrop. It maps the economy of abandonment, raising important questions about who is afforded care and what it truly means to value care.

To truly achieve change, we must recognize the intrinsic worth of care and care work and address the systemic issues that perpetuate their undervaluation. It is time to prioritize the well-being of individuals and communities, and to create a society that values and supports the caregiving profession. By valuing care, we can build a more compassionate, equitable, and sustainable world for all.

\n Weight: 346g\n
Dimension: 217 x 147 x 25 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781786630346\n \n