Careful Thinking

Fatherhood, faith, and phenomenology - with Zechariah Mickel

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0100

What insights can phenomenological philosophy offer into the experience of fatherhood? How does a father experience the mystery of his child's soul, and how should he respond to his child's vulnerability and suffering? And how useful is the language of sacrifice in describing the burden of paternal responsibility?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Zechariah Mickel. Zechariah is an independent scholar working at the intersection of continental philosophy and theology. He holds an MA in philosophy from the Global Center for Advanced Studies and has worked in schools as a therapeutic skills trainer and as a marketing manager and associate editor at Wipf and Stock Publishers, where he continues to host The Theology Mill Podcast. Based in Oregon in the United States, Zechariah is a husband and a father to two young children, and he is also employed as an apprentice plumber.

Zechariah has published articles in Commonweal magazine and in the Global Center for Advanced Studies Review. He’s the author of the book The Unthinkable Sacrifice: An Essay on Fatherhood, published by Cascade in 2025, which provides an account of the experience of early fatherhood using the tools of phenomenological philosophy. He is also the co-editor of the forthcoming book The Eucharist and Continental Philosophy, to be published by Fordham University Press.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Zechariah's background and early influences (02:30)

Zechariah's journey from evangelicalism to Catholicism (05:16)

The experience of becoming and being a father (08:05)

Working as a plumber alongside writing and publishing (09:58)

Zechariah's work for Wipf and Stock and as host of The Theology Mill Podcast (13:52)

Highlights of Zechariah's experience as a podcast host (16:33)

The 'theological turn' in French phenomenology and the influence of Steven DeLay on Zechariah's writing (18:00)

The thinking behind The Unthinkable Sacrifice (20:10)

Is the book philosophy or theology? (24:01)

The philosophers who have influenced Zechariah's thinking (28:28)

The father's experience of his child's soul and the insights of Levinas and Marion (33:50)

The vulnerability of the child and Romano's notion of 'the event' (37:40)

Fatherhood in the context of late modernity (41:40)

The burden of paternal responsibility (47:22)

Fatherhood and sacrifice (52:38)

Responding to criticisms of the book (56:35)

Zechariah's forthcoming edited volume on the Eucharist and his plans for further research and writing (01:05:05)

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in the episode

Some of the publications discussed in the episode

Steven DeLay's Phenomenology in France: A Philosophical and Theological Introduction

Terence Sweeney's review of The Unthinkable Sacrifice

Martin's Substack review of Zechariah's book

Films mentioned in the episode

The Sacrifice (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)

Get Out (dir. Jordan Peele)

Other links

Foursquare Church

You can download a transcript of this episode by following this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Death, dying, and the ethics of care - with Iris Parra Jounou

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 07:25:00 +0100

What can care ethics contribute to a better understanding of death, dying, and end-of-life care? What would a relational approach to assisted dying look like? And how should care be incorporated into public policy by local and national governments?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, in conversation with Iris Parra Jounou. Iris is a researcher in care ethics and political philosophy, specialising in end-of-life care. She is an assistant professor in philosophy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, where she was awarded a PhD in 2025 for her thesis entitled ‘Dying in the Relaissance: End-of-Life Practices in a Caring Democracy’. Iris previously studied for bachelor’s degrees in both nursing and humanities, and for a Masters degree in contemporary thought and classical tradition. She is also a published poet and a musician.

Iris has published a number of journal articles and book chapters on end-of-life care and assisted dying, and she also has the distinction of having translated key works by the leading American care ethicist Joan Tronto into Catalan. She a contributed a chapter on ‘a care ethics and aesthetics approach to stillbirth and late termination of pregnancy for foetal anomalies’ in the recently-published edited collection Care Aesthetics and the Arts. Iris has edited a new volume on Care Ethics and Public Health, which has been published, in the Peeters Ethics of Care series, since we recorded the episode.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Iris' personal and professional journey to studying the philosophy of care (02:35)

Witnessing death and developing an interest in end-of-life care (06:24)

Iris' introduction to feminist care ethics (10:55)

How Iris came to interview Joan Tronto and translate her books into Catalan (16:22)

A brief cultural history of death and dying (19:57)

Towards 'an expressive-collaborative model of mortality' using care ethics (24:42)

'Dying in the relaissance' (27:46)

A relational approach to assisted dying (30:30)

The ethical conflicts of implementing medical assistance in dying (34:34)

Towards a patient-centred definition of unbearable suffering (39:05)

Iris' forthcoming co-edited book on care ethics and public health (44:10)

Towards a public ethics of care (47:30)

Reflecting on stillbirth, care ethics and care aesthetics through the medium of a literary memoir (50:35)

Iris' involvement in poetry and music (57:40)

Iris' plans for further research and writing on care (01:01:14)

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in the episode

Margaret Urban Walker

Erica Borgstrom (see Episode 9)

Ruth Levitas

Miguel Abensour

Sean Riley

David Rodríguez-Arias

Txetxu Ausín

Claudia Gamondi

Anna Starobinets

Links to Iris' some of academic writings in English

'End-of-Life Narratives of Patients who Request Medical Assistance in Dying: A Qualitative Study Protocol'

'Causes for Conscientious Objection in Medical Aid in Dying: A Scoping Review'

'Care ethics in theory and practice: Joan C. Tronto in conversation with Iris Parra Jounou'

'For, against, and beyond: healthcare professionals’ positions on Medical Assistance in Dying in Spain'

'“Suffering Is a Hostage of Healthcare Professionals’ Authority”: Shifting to a Patient-Centered Definition'

'Look at Him: A care ethics and aesthetics approach to stillbirth and late termination of pregnancy for foetal abnormalities'

Iris' translations of works by Joan Tronto

Qui se'n cuida?

Democràcia i cura

Poetry by Iris

Oriana

Al filo (audiopoem)

Iris' research projects

INEDyTO

POyETICAS

You can download a transcript of the episode by following this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

A Catholic feminist perspective on care - with Erika Bachiochi

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0100

What can the ideas of an eighteenth-century feminist thinker contribute to contemporary debates around gender and care? How should law and social policy support caregivers and create a better balance between care, work and family life? Is Catholic feminism a contradiction in terms - and if not, what's distinctive about the perspective that it offers on care?

These are some of the questions we discuss in this episode, with Erika Bachiochi. Erika is an American legal scholar who works at the intersection of constitutional law, political theory, women’s history, and Catholic social teaching. She is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center - and Professor of Practice and Director of the Mercy Otis Warren Initiative at the School of Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, where she also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the online journal, Fairer Disputations. A 2018 visiting scholar at Harvard Law School, Erika is a Senior Fellow at the Abigail Adams Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she founded the Wollstonecraft Project.

Erika received a B.A. from Middlebury College in 1996, an M.A. in theology as a Bradley Fellow from the Institute for the Study of Politics and Religion at Boston College in 1999, and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 2002. The mother of seven children, Erika was a co-founder of St. Benedict’s, a Catholic classical school in Massachusetts where she served as President of the Board from 2013-2015. She has published numerous articles in legal and political journals and in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic.

Erika's book, The Rights of Women: Reclaiming a Lost Vision, which offers a revisionist history of the early women’s rights movement, including a radical reassessment of the work of Mary Wollstonecraft, was published in 2021.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Erika's journey to becoming a legal scholar (03:02)

Erika's philosophical, political and spiritual journey (08:33)

The rationale for Erika's book The Rights of Women and its focus on Mary Wollstonecraft (17:28)

The balance between rights and duties and the emphasis on virtues in Wollstonecraft's thinking (25:56)

The lost legacy of first-wave feminism (37:30)

Mary Ann Glendon's work on care, families, and social policy (43:35)

Erika's critique of feminist care ethics, and her understanding of the distinctive role of fathers in care (49:38)

The role of the state in supporting caregiving within families (59:34)

A distinctive Catholic feminist position on care (01:03:37)

Erika's plans for a sequel to The Rights of Women (01:07:33)

Some of the writers, thinkers and activists mentioned in the episode:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

Leah Libresco Sargeant

Holly Lawford-Smith

Bernie Sanders

Articles by Erika Bachiochi cited in the episode

'Embodied equality: debunking equal protection arguments for abortion rights' (2011)

'Embodied caregiving' (2016)

'Dobbs, Equality and the Contested Meanings of Women's Rights' (2023)

Other publications mentioned in the episode

'Declaration of Sentiments' (1848)

Mulieris dignitatem (1988)

Mary Ann Glendon, Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse (1991)

Eva Feder Kittay, Love's Labor: Essays on Women, Equality, and Dependency (1999)

'Catholic and Radical Feminism: a dialogue' (Fairer Disputations) (2024)

Leah Libresco Sargeant, The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto (2025)

Useful links

Catholic Social Teaching

Catholic Worker Movement

New Deal

Communitarianism

New Democrats

World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) - and see Mary Ann Glendon's account

You can download a transcript of the episode by following this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Protest, performance, and care - with Alisha Ibkar

Sun, 09 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0100

What can a protest movement organised by Muslim grandmothers in India teach us about the role of care in political action? In what sense should we understand care as performance and everyday caring activities as artful practices? And how might interpersonal care nurture a wider caring imagination and foster a politics of care?

These are some of the questions we discuss in this episode, with Alisha Ibkar. Originally from Kaliachak in West Bengal, India, Alisha has a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh, and a Master of Arts degree, also in English Literature, from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. She was a Commonwealth Scholar at the University of Warwick, where she completed a Master’s degree in applied theatre, with her dissertation focusing on the study of ethics and the aesthetics of care in the context of political activism. Alisha is currently a School of Arts, Languages and Cultures doctoral fellow in Theatre and Performance at the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama in the University of Manchester. Since 2016 she has also held the post of Assistant Professor of English Literature and Language at Aligarh Muslim University. In Manchester, Alisha is associated with The Care Lab, which is partnered with the AHRC-funded Care Aesthetics Research Exploration (CARE) Project, led by Professor James Thompson, who was my guest in Episode 11 of the podcast.

Alisha’s academic research places the burgeoning critical theorisations around the ethics and aesthetics of care in dialogue with socio-political protest movements, a context within which the relevance of caretaking is yet to be studied. Her research engages with women-led social movements in India to examine the extent to which care played a principal role, with her understanding of care emerging from Muslim women’s cultural and domestic practices of care. Through her work, Alisha seeks a decolonial reorientation, not only within care theory and scholarship, but also within political performance.

Alisha has published articles about her research in The Sociological Review and in Theatre Journal, and she has contributed a chapter entitled ‘On the art of Khidmat; political afterlives of Muslim women's everyday practices of care’ to a forthcoming collection on Care Aesthetics and the Arts, edited by Kate Maguire-Rosier, Réka Polonyi andJames Thompson.,

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Alisha's early life in West Bengal and how it shaped her thinking about care and community (03:26)

The importance of education in Alisha's upbringing and her choice of English Literature as a focus for her studies (07:43)

The roots of Alisha's interest in theatre and performance (11:53)

Alisha's critical engagement with feminist writers on care (14:11)

The protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in India (18:15)

The Shaheen Bagh protest and Alisha's relationship to it (21:52)

The ethos of care underlying the protest (25:10)

The practical care structures at Shaheen Bagh (30:42)

Care as performance (33:35)

The role of repetition and perpetuation in the performance of care (36:25)

Everyday caring activities as artful practices (41:21)

Storytelling as an ethical and aesthetic practice (46:21)

Interpersonal care nurturing a wider caring imagination (51:34)

The implications of Shaheen Bagh for thinking about protest as a form of care (57:18)

Shaheen Bagh as 'a template for a caring state' (01:01:30)

Alisha's involvement in The Care Lab and the CARE project in Manchester (01:05:40)

Some of the writers, thinkers and practitioners mentioned in the episode

Lila Abu-Lughod

Saba Mahmood

Sherine Hafez

Maurice Hamington (see Episode 6)

Mia Sosa-Provencio (see Episode 19)

Sharankumar Limbale

Sarah Munawar (see Episode 13)

Other links

Jatra (Bengali folk theatre)

The Shaheen Bagh protest

'Land of My Dreams' (film by Nausheen Khan)

The Care Collective

You can download a transcript of the episode by following this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

The ethics of dementia care - with Vince Mitchell

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 09:00:00 +0100

What ethical challenges are presented by caring for people with dementia? How should we understand - and respect - the personhood of those experiencing cognitive decline? And what can virtue ethics and care ethics contribute to the development of an alternative ethical model for dementia care?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, in conversation with Vince Mitchell. Vince is a Lecturer in Health and Social Care, specialising in mental health, at The Open University (UK). He is a qualified mental health nurse with experience of nursing people in a wide variety of clinical settings. Having graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health Care Practice and a Master of Arts in Applied Ethics from the University of York, Vince undertook doctoral research at the University of Surrey, where he was awarded a PhD in 2016 for his thesis examining ethical frameworks for dementia care. Since then, he has published a number of articles and book chapters on the ethics of mental health nursing and on ethical practice in dementia care.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Vince's journey into nursing (02:15)

Working as a mental health nurse (04:50)

Bridging the worlds of philosophy and care practice (07:00)

The challenges that dementia presents for care providers (10:40)

The inadequacy of existing ethical models (13:15)

Some of the key ethical issues in dementia care (15:35)

Personhood and autonomy (19:08)

The personal identity challenge to advance directives (23:50)

Thomas Kitwood's model of person-centred care (30:10)

Julian Hughes' Situated Embodied Agent approach (34:13)

Personal dignity and human flourishing (36:19)

Introducing virtue ethics (39:55)

Vulnerability, interdependence and trust (43:05)

Care ethics, justice and the socio-political context of dementia care (47:55)

An alternative ethical model for dementia care (51:10)

Implementing the model in practice (55:35)

Vince's plans for future work in care ethics (58:50)

A selection of Vince's publications

'Ethics and mental health nursing' (2017)

'Ethical practice in dementia care' (2019)

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in the episode

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

You can download a transcript of the episode by following this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Communities of care - with Lorraine Krall McCrary

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 08:30:00 +0100

How can we ensure that people with intellectual disabilities participate fully in political life? What lessons can we learn from communities of care in which disabled and non-disabled people live together? And what should be the relationship between local communities of care and wider social and political structures?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Lorraine Krall McCrary. Lorraine is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Wabash College, a liberal arts school in Indiana, and a research associate at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. She has a doctorate in political theory from Georgetown University and previously taught at Washington University in St. Louis and at Villanova University. Lorraine's search brings together disability studies and feminist care ethics, and she also writes about topics in politics and literature, as well as the relationship between the family and politics. Lorraine is currently in the final stages of writing a book based on her most recent research, with the working title Care Communities: Politics in a Different Voice.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Lorraine's work as a political theorist and the roots of her interest in disability issues (02:35)

Hannah Arendt's theory of 'natality' (05:00)

Natality and the politics of birth at Auschwitz (07:36)

Bearing witness in dark times (10:45)

Lorraine's use of literary sources in her work on disability (12:40)

Jane Addams and the politics of human interconnectedness (16:05)

Lorraine's research with communities of care at L'Arche, Camphill, and Geel (21:13)

Towards a relational understanding of reason (28:58)

The idea of community in the political thought of Alexis de Tocqueville (33:00)

Jean Vanier and revelations of abuse at L'Arche (36:12)

Abuse as 'relational tyranny' (39:12)

The notion of subsidiarity in feminist care ethics and Catholic Social Teaching (44:08)

The role of the state in relation to communities of care (49:00)

Relational caring at a community level as cultivating a wider sense of social solidarity (52:57)

Future directions for Lorraine's research (56:20)

A selection of Lorraine's publications

'Geel's Family Care Tradition: Care, Communities, and the Social Inclusion of Persons with Disability' (2017)

'Re-Envisioning Independence and Community: Critiques from the Independent Living Movement and L'Arche' (2017)

'Natality and Disability: From Augustine to Arendt and Back' (2018)

'From Hull-House to Herland: Engaged and Extended Care in Jane Addams and Charlotte Perkins Gilman' (2018)

'The Politics of Community: Care and Agency in People with Intellectual Disabilities at L'Arche' (2020)

'"A Crooked Cross": Disability and Community in Flannery O'Connor' (2021)

'Bearing Witness to Natality: The Politics of Birth at Auschwitz' (2022)

'Disability and Subsidiarity: Toward Social and Political Inclusion' (with Parker Gamble, 2024)

Other publications discussed in the episode

Joan Tronto, Caring Democracy: Markets, Equality, and Justice

Maurice Hamington, Embodied Care: Jane Addams, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Feminist Care Ethics

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America and Memoir on Pauperism

Paul Elie, The Life You Save May Be Your Own: an American Pilgrimage

Some of the thinkers, writers and activists mentioned in the episode

Hannah Arendt

Alexis de Tocqueville

Other relevant links

L'Arche

Camphill

Geel

Catholic Social Teaching

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack newsletter.

Revelations of divine care - with Melody Escobar

Mon, 19 May 2025 09:00:00 +0100

What can we learn about care from the experiences of mothers of children with disabilities? How can the writings of a medieval Christian mystic deepen our understanding of maternal love and care? Can the religious emphasis on kenosis, or self-giving love, be reconciled with a feminist perspective on care? And to what extent does the practice of intimate caregiving lead to a wider concern with equity and social justice?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Melody Escobar. Melody is a postdoctoral research associate at Baylor University, a private Christian University in Waco, Texas, where she is a research scholar for the Baylor Collaborative on Faith and Disability, in the Center for Developmental Disabilities, and where she lectures on religion and disability, eco-justice, and mysticism.

Before completing her doctorate in Christian spirituality at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Melody had a career in corporate communications spanning 18 years. She has served as a Catholic lay minister for more than 10 years in various capacities and she has also worked as a chaplain resident. Melody’s research and publications in Christian spirituality and practical theology focus on families who experience disability, innovative models of ministry, and curricula advancing inclusion and belonging in academic and spiritual life.

Melody is the author of the book Revelations of Divine Care: Disability, Spirituality, and Mutual Flourishing, which was published in 2024 by Baylor University Press, as part of their Studies in Religion, Theology, and Disability series.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Melody's personal, spiritual and academic journey (03:55)

Melody's experience as the mother of a child with a disability (06:00)

Equine-assisted therapy for children with disabilities (08:02)

The influence of the writings of Julian of Norwich on Melody's thinking (10:25)

The horse ring as a sacred space of community and belonging (13:55)

The importance of hospitality (17:01)

Melody's research with mothers of children with disabilities (19:10)

The importance of giving voice to mothers' experiences (25:12)

The key themes emerging from Melody's research (27:00)

Faith, spirituality, and care (29:20)

The contested role of kenotic, or self-giving love, in care (32:25)

The need for structural and policy reform to support mothers' caregiving (35:23)

The vision of maternal love in Julian of Norwich's writings (37:25)

Widening the circle of loving care (40:37)

The lessons of Melody's research for churches and faith communities (43:35)

Developments in disability theology (47:44)

Melody's forthcoming book 'Belonging Under The Bridge' (50:07)

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in the episode

Links

Equine-assisted therapy

Catholic Worker Movement

Church Under the Bridge

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack

Careful Thinking - Trailer

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0100

Careful Thinking explores ideas about care and features conversations with researchers, writers and practitioners at the cutting edge of current thinking about care. It was launched in November 2023 and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

Creating, knowing, and caring - with Merel Visse

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 08:00:00 +0100

How are the practice of art and the practice of care connected? In what ways might intellectual inquiry be a caring practice? And what part do wonder, poetry and 'unknowing' play in research - and in care?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Merel Visse. Merel is a scholar, artist, editor and educator. She holds a faculty position in the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies at Drew University in New Jersey in the United States, where she chairs a master’s and doctoral degree program. Merel is also affiliated with the University of Humanistic Studies in the Netherlands, Care Ethics Chair. She serves on several editorial boards in the U.S.A. and was an artist in residence at the New York School of Visual Arts, and in 2018 at the NARS Foundation in Brooklyn. In the Netherlands, Merel co-founded the Meaningful Artistic Research Program, a collaboration between the University of Humanistic Studies and HKU University of the Arts, and with Elena Cologni at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, she co-leads the Art and Care Platform Series.

Merel is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters on art, care ethics, and research methodology. She’s the Visual Art Section Editor at the International Journal of Education and the Arts, for which she and Elena Cologni recently co-edited a special issue on ‘Art for the Sake of Care’. In April, she will start serving as the co-editor of Visual Arts Research (VAR), a publication from the University of Illinois Press. In 2018, Merel co-edited the book Evaluation for a Caring Society, and in 2021 she co-authored the book A Paradigm of Care with Bob Stake. Merel and Bob recently submitted their manuscript for a mini-book on Researching Care with Case Studies to Routledge. Merel is currently focusing on the manuscript for Precarious Knowing, a project that recently expanded to include members of the 'Enduring' research group, and is set to be published by Springer.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

The roots of Merel's interest and involvement in art and care (03:48)

The 'Precarious Knowing' project (11:32)

Merel's practice as an artist (11:50)

The Meaningful Artistic Research Program (16:03)

The Art and Care Platform Series (18:59)

Special issue on 'Art for the Sake of Care' (20:45)

Relational autoethnography as a commitment to care (26:35)

Evaluation as a caring practice (30:23)

The role of wonder, 'unknowing' and the poetic in research and care (33: 52)

An 'aesthetic-apophatic' approach to qualitative inquiry (46:05)

The hospital bed as a landscape for materialised care (51:03)

Merel's forthcoming book on 'Precarious Knowing' (53:54)

Merel's collaboration with Bob Stake on 'A Paradigm of Care' and the forthcoming book 'Researching Care with Case Studies' (57:12)

A selection of Merel's journal articles

'Autoethnography as a praxis of care - the promises and pitfalls of autoethnography as a commitment to care' (with Alistair Niemeijer)

'Apophatic Inquiry: Living the Questions Themselves' (with Finn Thorbjørn Hansen and Carlo Leget)

'Sometimes, Indirect is More Direct. An Aesthetic-Apophatic Phenomenological Approach to Self-Reflexivity in Qualitative Inquiry'

'Art for the Sake of Care: Editorial Introduction' (with Elena Cologni)

Other publications referred to in the episode

François Jullien, Detour and Access: Strategies of Meaning in China and Greece

François Jullien, The Silent Transformations

Finn Thorbjørn Hansen, Solveig Botnen Eide, and Carlo Leget (eds.) Wonder, Silence and Human Flourishing: Toward a Rehumanization of Health, Education, and Welfare

Matilda Carter (ed.)The Bloomsbury Handbook of Care Ethics

Some of the writers, scholars and thinkers mentioned in the episode

Hans-Georg Gadamer

Joan Tronto

Maurice Hamington (see Episode 6)

Inge van Nistelrooij (see Episode 17)

Carlo Leget (see Episode 8)

Finn Thorbjørn Hansen

Marloeke van der Vlugt

Simona Kicurovska

Andries Hiskes

Elena Cologni

Christine Leroy (see Episode 7)

James Thompson (see Episode 11)

Hanneke van der Meide

François Jullien

Donald Wijsenbek

Frans Vosman

Maria Puig de la Bellacasa

Links

International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI)

Care Ethics Research Consortium

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Caring presence - with Andries Baart and Guus Timmerman

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 09:00:00 +0100

What does it mean to 'practise presence' in caring for others? How did the theory of presence develop from research on everyday care practice? And what are the professional, organisational and political implications of presence theory and relational caring?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Andries Baart and Guus Timmerman.

Andries is Extraordinary Professor in the field of ageing and generational dynamics at North-West University in South Africa. He is also a former visiting professor at the Department of Psychiatry of the University Medical Centre Utrecht, and Professor Emeritus of the University of Humanistic Studies, Tilburg University, and Catholic Theological University Utrecht – all in the Netherlands. Andries has been one of the leading figures in the development of care ethics in the Netherland and in 2004, with others, he founded Stichting Presentie - the Presence Foundation.

Guus has worked as a care ethicist and qualitative researcher at the Presence Foundation since 2014 and has published widely on relational caring and presence in healthcare and social work, and on the methodology of qualitative research. Guus has undertaken research on the care and practical wisdom of general practitioners at the sick- and death-beds of their patients; the life-world of people in Rotterdam who use the bed-bath-bread provision for irregular migrants and rejected asylum seekers; and what it is like to be a person with advanced dementia. His current research is on narrative accountability in care for older persons: giving insight to relevant interlocutors through stories.

Andries and Guus have collaborated on a new book, Relational Caring and Presence Theory in Health Care and Social Work: a Care-Ethical Perspective, which was published in December last year by Policy Press, and which forms the main focus of our conversation in this episode.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Andries' personal and professional journey to his work in care ethics (03:45)

Guus' personal and professional journey (09:15)

The life, work and influence of Frans Vosman (14:20)

The aims of Andries' and Guus' new book (19:55)

The key elements of relational caring and presence theory (23:35)

The origins of presence theory in Andries' study of outreach pastoral care (27:11)

The religious inspiration and secular relevance of presence theory, and the importance of 'exposure' in practising presence (31:18)

The theoretical roots of presence theory (34:53)

Comparing the presence approach with Joan Tronto's five-phase caring process (43:34)

The distinctiveness of the presence approach to care practice (50:07)

The relationship between presence theory and care ethics (46:55)

The organisational implications of practising presence and relational caring (52:55)

The implications of presence theory for thinking about professionalism (55:40)

How realistic is practising presence in the context of everyday care practice? (59:30)

The political implications of presence theory (01:03:30)

The work of the Presence Foundation (01:07:05)

Andries' and Guus' current work and future plans (01:09:15)

Writers, theorists and activists mentioned in the episode

Frans Vosman

Carlo Leget (see Episode 8)

Inge van Nistelrooij (see Episode 17)

Other links

The Presence Foundation (Stichting Presentie)

The Worker-Priest movement

Catholic Worker movement

Frankfurt School

Discourse analysis

Peeters 'Ethics of Care' series

Part-Time for All: A Care Manifesto by Jennifer Nedelsky and Tom Malleson

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

A 'revolucionista' ethic of care - with Mia Sosa-Provencio

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 08:20:00 +0100

How has the legacy of conquest and colonisation shaped the educational experiences of students and teachers in New Mexico? What can educators do to enable students to bring their embodied knowledge and intergenerational wisdom into educational spaces? And in what ways are (Nuevo) Mexicana educators developing a 'revolucionista' ethic of care?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Mia Sosa-Provencio. Mia is an Associate Professor of Secondary Education in the Department of Teacher Education, Educational Leadership, and Policy, at the University of New Mexico. She taught Language Arts for seven years at Rio Grande High School in the South Valley of Albuquerque, before studying for a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis on Critical Pedagogies, at New Mexico State University.

Mia has published widely in the field of critical education studies, with a number of recent articles seeking to develop a Mexicana/Mestiza Critical Feminist Ethic of Care, drawing on her research, which uses Testimonio methodology, with educators living and working along the U.S.-Mexico border.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Mia's cultural roots and the social, political and historical context of New Mexico (02:32)

Mia's personal experience of the US education system as a child (07:55)

The impact of Mia's experience as a high school teacher in Albuquerque (13:05)

Mia's current work preparing teachers to practice education as social justice (15:42)

The ways in which care is excluded from educational spaces (19:48)

Mia's ethnographic research with Mexicana/Mestiza educators using Testimonio methodology (20:55)

Learning from Rosa's and Diana's narratives about ways of embodying a revolucionista ethic of care (26:15)

Towards a critical feminist ethic of care (34:12)

Developing an 'in the flesh' ethic of care: the importance of body and land (39:11)

The role of humour and play in creating a social justice revolución (49:17)

Mia's ongoing work and her hopes for its impact on policy and practice (01:01:04)

A selection of Mia's publications

'A Revolucionista Ethic of Care: Four Mexicana Educators' Subterraneous Social Justice Revolución of Fighting and Feeding'

'Seeking a Mexicana/Mestiza Critical Feminist Ethic of Care: Diana's Revolución of Body and Being'

'Seeking a Mexicana/Mestiza Ethic of Care: Rosa's Revolución of carrying alongside'

'Curriculum of the Mestiza/o Body: Living and Learning Through a Corporal Landscape of Resistance and (Re)generation'

'Tu eres mi otro yo/You Are My Other Me: An In-The-Flesh Ethic of Care Centering Body and Emotionality as Speaking Subjects Fostering Dignity, Interconnection, and Racialized Healing'

'Seeking a Culturally Relevant Ethic of Care for Mexican/Mexican American Youth: A Revolucionista Ethic of Care and its Wily, Tactical Mechanism of Humor' (forthcoming)

Scholars, writers and activists mentioned in the episode

Gloria Anzaldúa

Beverly E Cross

Vanessa Siddle Walker

Dolores Delgado Bernal

Aida Hurtado

Chela Sandoval

Lourdes Diaz Soto

Maurice Hamington (see Episode 6)

Nell Noddings

Maria Lugones

Cherríe Moraga

Sarah Munawar (see Episode 13)

Other links

Latina Feminist Group

Pensamiento Serpentino ('In Lak'ech' - poem)

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

A care ethical perspective on surrogacy - with Priya Sharma

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0100

What has been the impact of recent attempts to regulate surrogacy in India? How do surrogate mothers view their participation in the process? Can feminist care ethics, and specifically an understanding of care as labour, contribute to a better understanding of surrogacy? And what are the strengths and weaknesses of the radical feminist case against surrogacy?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Priya Sharma. Priya recently took up a position as an Assistant Professor in the Humanities and Social Science at T A Pai Management Institute, on the Bengalaru Campus of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, in India. She has an academic background in anthropology, sociology and philosophy, and practical experience of working with a variety of social justice movements. Priya’s doctoral research at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, where she was until recently a postdoctoral fellow, developed a care ethical perspective on surrogacy regulation in India.

Building on her doctoral work, Priya has published an article, with her supervisor Amrita Banerjee, on ‘Animating the Affect–Care–Labor Link in the Wake of “The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill”: Care Ethics and Policymaking on Indian Surrogacy’ in the journal Hypatia, and she has contributed a chapter entitled ‘Whose Ethos?: A Case of Indian Surrogacy law and its Moral Bedrock’ to the forthcoming Routledge Companion to Gender and Reproduction. Priya is also currently co-editing a volume on Technology, Mothering, and Care Ethics in the Peeters Ethics of Care series, and is a guest editor for a journal special issue on Critical Midwifery Studies.

Please note that the sound quality of this episode is less than ideal in places, due to a poor internet connection, so listeners may wish to refer to the transcript (link below) to aid understanding.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Priya's academic background and the origins of her interest in reproductive care (02:54)

Understanding surrogacy in the Indian context (09:50)

The regulation of surrogacy in India (17:16)

Priya's ethnographic research with surrogate women (22:32)

The influence of feminist care ethics on Priya's work on reproductive care (33:29)

The radical feminist critique of surrogacy and Priya's response (46:00)

Priya's work with Birth Futures and the Critical Midwifery Studies Collective (56:20)

Priya's plans for further research on surrogacy and reproductive care (01:05:09)

Some of the writers, researchers, professionals and activists mentioned in the episode:

Amrita Banerjee

Kushal Deb

Ira Chadha-Sridhar (see Episode 15)

Maitrayee Chaudhuri

Maurice Hamington (see Episode 6)

Inge van Nistelrooij (see Episode 17)

Publications mentioned in the episode

Joan Tronto, Moral Boundaries and Caring Democracy

Sarah Ruddick, Maternal Thinking

Rodante van der Waal, Birth Justice: From Obstetric Violence to Abolitionist Care

Links

Sama - Resource Group for Women and Health

Stop Surrogacy Now

Dalit feminism

Birth Futures

Critical Midwifery Studies Collective

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Care, sacrifice, and reproductive justice - with Inge van Nistelrooij

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 09:00:00 +0100

Is self-sacrifice a vital component of care for others, or does a feminist ethic of care make it problematic? Is caring something that we choose to do, or a responsibility that is given to us? And how can care ethics provide a framework for promoting reproductive justice?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Inge van Nistelrooij. Inge is a care ethicist, based in the Netherlands. She currently works as a self-employed ethicist with care organisations, as a consultant for professional care practices, as an ethics educator for professional teams, and as a facilitator of ethical reflection and ethical case deliberation. She is also a part-time Associate Professor of Care Ethics at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht. Inge studied for a doctorate in Theology at the University of Tilburg with Annelies von Heijst, and her prize-winning thesis was published in book form in 1996 as Martha and Mary Revisited: Care as Ethical Perspective. Inge then spent a number of years working for religious organisations and as an ethics trainer, and also as an ethics policy advisor in care organisations, publishing in 2008 The Basic Book of Care Ethics, a book for care workers in nursing, social work, spiritual care and medical professions, a revised version of which came out in 2022. Inge went on to study for a PhD at the University of Humanistic Studies, with Frans Vosman, and her thesis was published in book form in 2014 as Sacrifice: A Care Ethical Reappraisal of Sacrifice and Self-Sacrifice. Since then, Inge has published widely in the field of care ethics, on subjects such as empathy and relationality, with a recent focus on pregnancy and childbirth. She was one of the co-editors of the 2022 collection Care Ethics, Religion and Spiritual Traditions, and she is co editor of the book Recommitting to Reproduction: Shifting Care Ethics Towards Reproductive Justice, which will be published next year. Inge's Dutch-language monograph Baarzaam: Basisboek Zorgethiek voor zwangerschap, geboortezorg en ouderschap (‘Basic book - Care ethics for pregnancy, maternity care and parenthood’) is also planned for 2025.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Inge's journey from theology to care ethics (03:16)

The influence of Annelies van Heijst (07:33)

Inge's work with care organisations (12:07)

Inge's doctoral research on sacrifice and self-sacrifice in care (16:18)

Literary representations of self-sacrifice (21:20)

The influence of feminist theology on Inge's thinking (29:00)

Jean-Luc Marion on givenness and responsibility (34:05)

Paul Ricoeur on identity as narrative (40:10)

Obstetric violence and reproductive care (42:17)

Maternity and feminist care ethics (48:17)

Inge's forthcoming publications on care ethics and reproductive justice (52:20)

A selection of Inge's recent publications

'Reimagining relationality for reproductive care: understanding obstetric violence as "separation"'

'The Undercommons of Childbirth and Their Abolitionist Ethic of Care. A Study into Obstetric Violence Among Mothers, Midwives (in Training), and Doulas'

'Shroud Waving Self Determination, A Qualitative Analysis of the Moral and Epistemic Dimensions of Obstetric Violence in the Netherlands'

Other publications discussed in the episode

Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace

Some of the thinkers, writers and researchers mentioned in the episode

Links

Care Ethics Research Consortium

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

The transformative power of care - with Elissa Strauss

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 07:30:00 +0100

What are the physical, psychological and spiritual benefits of caring for others? How does caregiving benefit society, and what could society do to value care more? In what ways does care change men, and how can we encourage men to participate more in caregiving? And how are care and spirituality connected?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Elissa Strauss. Elissa is a journalist, essayist, and opinion writer, based in Oakland, California, who has been writing about the culture and politics of care for fifteen years. Her work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times and The Atlantic, and she has been a contributing writer for CNN and Slate, where her articles have focussed on feminism and motherhood. In addition to her work as a writer, Elissa is also an artistic director of LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture.

Elissa's book, When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others, was published earlier this year to widespread acclaim. Reviewers have described the book as 'brilliantly argued and timely', 'urgent and necessary', and 'destined to be a modern classic'.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

How Elissa got started as a writer (02:10)

Why Elissa wrote When You Care (03:18)

The main message of the book (07:50)

Discovering meaning and purpose through caregiving (09:38)

The social, political and economic value of care (13:48)

The ambivalent image of motherhood and caregiving in feminist literature (20:55)

Breaking down the 'glass doors' : building a feminism of care (25:58)

The forgotten history of care feminism and its lessons for today(29:20)

Men and care (33:36)

The physical and psychological benefits of caregiving (40:43)

Elissa's discovery of feminist care ethics (46:14)

Care and spirituality (50:55)

The need for political and cultural change to support caregiving (58:00)

Elissa's plans for future research and writing (01:01:30)

Elissa's recent articles

'I hated the story of Abraham and Isaac - until I became a mother', Kveller

'The branch of philosophy all parents should know', The Atlantic

Other publications discussed in the episode

Rachel Cusk, A Life's Work

Nell Noddings, Caring

Some of the writers, thinkers and activists mentioned in the episode

Other links

'Made with Care' (Elissa's Substack newsletter)

'Young men, masculinity and wellbeing' (Martin's research with Promundo)

Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Jusitice (formerly Promundo)

Eshet Chayil (traditional Jewish poem/song)

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack

Care ethics, philosophy, and the law - with Ira Chadha-Sridhar

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0100

How are our duties to care, and to obey the law, connected? What can care ethics contribute to an understanding of important questions in medical and family law? What does it mean to describe care as a 'thick ethical concept'? And what are the factors that make caring actions 'good'?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Ira Chadha-Sridhar. Ira is the Hatton-WYNG Junior Research Fellow in Law, Medicine and Life Sciences at Hughes Hall in the University of Cambridge. She has a BA.LLB (Honours) from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences in Kolkata, and an LLM from Cambridge University, where she was recently awarded a PhD for her thesis entitled ‘A Care Ethical Theory of Political Obligation'.

Ira’s research interests lie at the intersections of law and philosophy. She’s particularly interested in the ethics of care and its relationship with questions about the law: both within jurisprudence, and within areas of legal doctrine, such as medical law and family law. Ira’s current research project focusses on care ethics and its intersection with doctrinal questions in medical law.

Ira’s publications include a number of articles written while she was still a student in India, for example on the ethics of care in maternity laws, and critical feminist reflections on the laws around shared parenting. In 2021 she published an article on ‘The Value of Vagueness: A Feminist Analysis’ in The Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, while 2023 saw the publication of her article on ‘Care as a Thick Ethical Concept’ in Res Publica. Ira is currently working on a monograph, in which she plans to develop a conceptual account of care, encompassing a descriptive theory of caring actions and a care-evaluation framework. This framework aims to make substantial contributions to ongoing discussions in doctrinal medical law and public health policy.

We explore the following topics in this episode:

The origins of Ira's interest in the law (02:58)

Feminism as an early influence on Ira's thinking (04:54)

Ira's introduction to care ethics (06:08)

An overview of Ira's doctoral research (08:40)

Care ethics and political obligation (10:45)

Is care ethics a feminist ethic? (12:52)

The contribution of a new generation of thinkers to care ethics (15:25)

The relationship between care ethics and legal and political philosophy (17:23)

Care ethics, particularism and moral principles (19:25)

Care as a thick ethical concept (23:40)

Care ethics and analytic philosophy (27:33)

Care and 'good' care (30:46)

Positive, negative and neutral caring actions (32:57)

The factors that make caring actions 'good' (36:43)

Ira's current research on medical law and care ethics (39:26)

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in the episode

Steven Steyl (see Episode 10)

Some of the publications discussed in the episode

Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development

Cynthia A. Stark, 'Abstraction and Justification in Moral Theory'

Steven Steyl, 'A Care Ethical Theory of Right Action'

Stephanie Collins, The Core of Care Ethics

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack

Empathy, emotions and the ethics of love - with Susi Ferrarello

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0100

What role do emotions play in individual and societal wellbeing? How can we ensure that we are emotionally present in caregiving and in our professional lives? What is the difference between true and 'empty' empathy? And what can phenomenology, and philosophical ideas generally, contribute to the development of an ethic of love, or an ethic of care?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Susi Ferrarello. Susi is an associate professor at California State University, East Bay. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from La Sapienza University in Rome, an MA in Human Rights and Political Science from the University of Bologna, and a PhD in Philosophy from the Sorbonne in Paris. Susi has held professorships at La Sapienza, the Florence University of the Arts, Lucerne University, and Loyola University in Chicago, and she has lectured widely in Europe and the United States.

Susi’s areas of interest include phenomenology, moral psychology, practical ethics, the philosophical foundations of psychological praxis, and ancient philosophy. Susi is also a philosophical counsellor, with more than ten years’ experience of consulting in Italy, Switzerland and the United States.

Susi's many books include The Phenomenology of Sex, Love and Intimacy, published in 2019; Human Emotions and the Origins of Bioethics and The Role of Bioethics in Emotional Problems, both from 2021; and The Ethics of Love: Emotional Dilemmas for a Relational Life, which came out in 2023. She has also edited or co-edited a number of books, including Empathy and Ethics in 2022, and The Routledge Handbook of Phenomenology of Mindfulness in 2023. The Phenomenology of Pregnancy and Early Motherhood: Ethical, Social, and Psychological Perspectives will be published in December 2024. Susi writes a regular blog, ‘Lying On The Philosopher’s Couch’, in Psychology Today magazine, and she is the host of the ‘Philosophy Gets Personal’ podcast. She recently launched No Bump, No Care?, an online pregnancy and motherhood support project.

We explore the following topics in this episode:

Susi's academic journey and formation (03:09)

Susi's work as a philosophical counsellor (07:40)

Emotions and bioethics (11:12)

Emotions in professional life (17:58)

Encouraging empathy in caregiving: the example of care for women who have experienced miscarriage (24:04)

The gender bias in pain management (31:44)

Intercorporeality and interaffectivity (36:10)

Bioethics and everyday emotional problems (42:66)

Ancient myths as resources for understanding contemporary relational dilemmas (46:40)

Susi's reflections on personal emotional experience in her writing (50:50)

Love, care and self-care (52:50)

A phenomenological ethic of love (56:22)

From kindness to tenderness (01:01:03)

Susi's current work on pregnancy and perinatal loss (01:05:17)

Links

Susi's Youtube channel

Susi's counselling practice

Some of the thinkers and writers mentioned in the episode

Aristotle

Edmund Husserl

Martin Heidegger

Van Rensselaer Potter

Lou Marinoff

Tomie Hahn

Nicole Miglio

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

A Muslim feminist ethic of care - with Sarah Munawar

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0100

In what ways do medical racism and ableism shape Muslim families' experiences of healthcare services? How can Islamic spirituality and Qur'anic stories provide resources to support caregivers and receivers of care? Does care ethics need to be decolonised? And what are the implications of a Muslim feminist ethic of care for thinking about illness, disability and reproductive care?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Sarah Munawar. Sarah is a political science instructor at Columbia College in Vancouver, Canada, and she was recently a visiting professor at the Elizabeth Rockwell Center on Ethics and Leadership at the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston. Sarah earned her PhD in political science at the University of British Columbia in 2019 with a thesis entitled, ‘In Hajar’s footsteps: a de-colonial and Islamic theory of care’, which will also form the basis of a forthcoming book.

Sarah describes herself as a neurodiverse Muslim, mother, and political theorist, her research articulating a vision of health equity, disability justice and care ethics that is intersectional, Islamic and de-colonial, while also centring the epistemic authority of disabled Muslims as knowers of Islam, Muslim practices of care, and care-based modes of knowing Islam.

Sarah’s publications include the book chapter ‘In the Belly of the Whale: Theorizing Disability through a De-Colonial and Islamic Ethic of Care’, which was published in 2022, in the collection Care Ethics, Religion, and Spiritual Traditions; the journal article ‘The Breathwork of Ar-Rahman: An Islamic Ethic of Reproductive Care’, also from 2022; and the book chapter ‘”Be and it is!”: Muslim Cosmologies of Care, Desire, and the Reproduction of Life’, which will appear later this year.

We explore the following topics in this episode:

Sarah's family's experience of caring and advocating for her father during his illness (02:50)

Experiencing medical ableism and racism (08:37)

Critiquing some religious responses to illness and disability (13:58)

Qur'anic stories providing a moral vocabulary for care (19:04)

Muslim and critical disability approaches to assisted dying (23:45)

Ableist and racist constructions of caregivers (26:52)

The influence of Eva Kittay on Sarah's thinking and the need to decolonise care ethics (30:22)

The concept of relational selfhood in Muslim, feminist and indigenous thinking (33:40)

'The breathwork of Ar-Rahman' as a source of mercy and care (37:39)

Sarah's development of an Islamic, intersectional ethic of reproductive care, and its roots in her experience of giving birth during the Covid-19 pandemic (39:35)

The stories of Hajar and Maryam as resources for understanding Muslim mothers' experiences (44:44)

Towards a political and ecological Islamic ethic of care and the importance of place in thinking about care (46:55)

Future directions for Sarah's research and writing (51:30)

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in the episode

For a transcript of the episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Fatherhood, care and disability - with Aaron Jackson

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0100

How do parents of children with disabilities create meaningful lives? In what ways do past experiences shape fathers' caregiving in the present? And how is men's care for their disabled children influenced by social norms of masculinity?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Aaron Jackson. Aaron is an anthropologist whose research focuses primarily on best practices for supporting people with intellectual disabilities, with an emphasis on active support and supported decision-making. He was recently appointed as Course Coordinator and Head Lecturer of the Masters in Disability Practice at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Aaron’s academic interests include social worlds of disability and disability care, world-building, identity and memory, gender and masculinities, philosophy of self and other, disability politics of inclusion, emotional experience, and the phenomenology of bereavement.

Aaron’s doctoral research, which explored the practical and emotional realities of intensive caregiving for fathers of children with profound physical and intellectual disabilities, formed the basis of his book Worlds of Care: The Emotional Lives of Fathers Caring for Children with Disabilities, which was published in 2021.

We explore the following topics in this episode:

Aaron's personal and academic journey to researching fatherhood, care and disability (02:34)

Aaron's ethnographic research with fathers of children with disabilities in the United States (06:52)

The combination of narrative, creative and academic styles of writing in 'Worlds of Care' (09:55)

Aaron's inclusion of his personal experience of caregiving in his research and writing (13:26)

The influence of key theorists on Aaron's thinking (18:04)

How parenting a child with a disability disrupts personal life narratives (20:55)

The focus on emotions in Aaron's research (24:25)

The role of memory and past experiences on caregiving in the present (28:33)

Fathers reframing their identities as a result of parenting a child with a disability (32:10)

Men, masculinities and care (35:33)

The influences on men's caregiving (38:15)

Embodied caregiving as a form of moral education (41:46)

Parents' mutual support as 'moral cosmopolitan communities' (44:20)

Aaron's experience of serious illness and becoming a receiver of care (47:53)

Paternalistic relationships in medical practice (50:10)

Improving care for people with disabilities and support for their families (53:19)

Aaron's plans for future research (56:45)

Some of Aaron's other publications

'The social framing of diagnoses and empathetic listening'

'When Doctors Don't Listen'

'Embodied Spaces, Cosmopolitanism and Corporeal Diversity'

'Attuned Fathering and the Moral Dimensions of Caregiving'

'Between us: Facilitated decision-making in the relational experience of profound intellectual disability'

'Building Strong Foundations: Listening to and Learning from People with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Families'

Other publications mentioned in the episode

Maurice Hamington, Embodied Care: Jane Addams, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Feminist Ethics

Oliver Sacks, Awakenings

Alison Davies, 'Its a problem with the brain': A discursive analysis of parents' constructions of ADHD

Alison Davies, Jonathan Rix and Martin Robb ‘Fathers’ relationships with their disabled children: a literature review’

Martin Robb, Men, Masculinities and the Care of Children: Images, Ideas and Identities

Some of the thinkers and writers discussed in the episode

Pierre Bourdieu

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Martin Heidegger

Eva Kittay

Sara Ahmed

For a transcript of the episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Care aesthetics - with James Thompson

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0100

What does it mean to describe care as 'beautiful'? Is caring an art, and if so, what would 'artful' care (and careful art) look like? And how might an aesthetics of care transform how we think, not only about interpersonal care, but also about broader social relationships?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode of the podcast, with James Thompson. James is a theatre practitioner, academic and researcher, and is currently Professor of Applied and Social Theatre at the University of Manchester. James’ professional practice has included ten years developing arts programmes in prisons and over fifteen years documenting and supporting arts projects in sites of armed conflict and humanitarian disaster. He helped to set up the TiPP Centre, which develops participatory arts projects in prison contexts, and also In Place of War, a global organisation that uses artistic creativity in places impacted by conflict.

James’ books include Performance Affects: Applied Theatre and the End of Effect and Performance in Place of War, both published in 2009, and Humanitarian Performance: from Disaster Tragedies to Spectacles of War, from 2014. He also co-edited the collection Performing Care: New Perspectives on Socially Engaged Performance, which was published in 2020. James’ most recent book is Care Aesthetics: For Artful Care and Careful Art, which came out in 2023. He currently leads a cross-disciplinary team of theatre and nursing academics and practitioners working on the Care Aesthetics Research Exploration project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which explores what happens when we consider care a craft of artful practice.

We explore the following topics in this episode:

James' work in prisons and the activities of the TiPP Centre (03:00)

James' experience in conflict zones and the work of 'In Place of War' (05:38)

The personal roots of James' interest in care aesthetics (08: 04)

The genesis of 'Care Aesthetics' during the COVID-19 pandemic (11:00)

'Clapping for carers' as an aesthetic experience (12:33)

Towards an alternative aesthetics (14:38)

Relational aesthetics (18:23)

'In between' aesthetics (21:00)

Self care and care for the other (22:52)

The influence of feminist care ethics (25:00)

Connecting intimate care with care for the wider community (27:52)

Care as performance (31:14)

Art, play and care (34:43)

An aesthetic critique of care (37:13)

Towards a dramaturgy of care (40:42)

Everyday care aesthetics (43:51)

Slow art and slow care (45:50)

A care aesthetics manifesto (47:30)

The Care Aesthetics Research Exploration Project (49:35)

The Care Lab and the future of care aesthetics (52:47)

Some of the writers, thinkers, researchers and practitioners mentioned in the episode

Maurice Hamington (see Episode 6)

Christine Leroy (see Episode 7)

Petr Urban (see Episode 4)

Other links

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack

The virtue of care - with Steven Steyl

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 10:00:00 +0100

Is care a virtue? And what is the relationship between care ethics and virtue ethics? Is there a need to 'queer' care ethics? And what does an ethic of care have to say about the needs of marginalised groups like migrants and those with invisible disabilities?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Steven Steyl. Steven studied law, philosophy and politics at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where he also completed an M.A. in politics and international relations. He then studied for a PhD, at the University of Notre Dame Australia, where his thesis was entitled ‘Towards an Aristotelian Theory of Care: A Comparison of Neo-Aristotelian Virtue Ethics with Feminist Ethics of Care, and the Fundaments of a Virtue Ethical Theory of Care.’ Steven has been a visiting researcher at Oxford, at the University of Minnesota and at Arizona State University, and he currently teaches at UNDA’s Sydney campus where he will shortly be taking up a new post coordinating the national bioethics curriculum. Steven is also in the process of completing postgraduate legal training with the New Zealand Law Society and from July he'll have a licence to practice law. He has published a number of journal articles in the field of care ethics, exploring the nature of caring actions, the relationship between care ethics and virtue ethics, and queer care ethics. With Daniel Engster, Steven is co-editing a forthcoming collection on care and moral theory.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

The origins of Steven's interest in care theory (02:55)

Care and the virtues (05:43)

Care ethics and analytic philosophy (19:46)

Caring actions (23:14)

Queering care ethics (30:18)

Conversion therapy and the ethics of care (37:42)

Care theory and invisible disabilities (41:27)

Care ethics and migration (45:57)

Steven's plans for the future - philosophy or the law? (48:17)

Links to some of Steven's publications

'The Virtue of Care' (2019)

'Caring Actions' (2019)

'A Care Ethical Theory of Right Action' (2020)

'Theologically Motivated Conversion Therapy and Care Epistemology' in Care Ethics, Religion and Spiritual Traditions

Other publications discussed in the episode

Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman, Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life

Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development

Lynne Huffer, Are the Lips a Grave? A Queer Feminist on the Ethics of Sex

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in the episode

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Care at the end of life - with Erica Borgstrom

Tue, 21 May 2024 09:00:00 +0100

In what sense are death and dying relational experiences? Why is 'choice' a problematic concept in end of life care? And when might a decision not to intervene be viewed as a form of care?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Erica Borgstrom. Erica is a Professor of Medical Anthropology at The Open University, where she leads Open Thanatology, the university’s interdisciplinary research group for the study of death, dying, loss and grief across the life course. Erica is editor of the international, interdisciplinary journal Mortality and one of the editors overseeing the book series Death and Culture for Bristol University Press. Her doctoral research at the University of Cambridge ethnographically examined English end-of-life care - from policy, to practice, to everyday experiences, focusing on choice and advance care planning. With Simon Cohn and Annelieke Driessen, Erica worked on the Forms of Care project, which critically examined non-intervention in end of life care. With a range of collaborators across projects, Erica has also explored how palliative and end of life care are provided in various contexts, including in acute hospital settings, hospices, and through doula provision. Recently, one of Erica’s main research projects has been focused on understanding how people interpret and use the Ambitions Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care, a project funded by NHS England and Marie Curie. Erica is the author or co-author of many articles and book chapters. She has co-edited two collections on research methodology, Researching Death, Dying and Bereavement and Unpacking Sensitive Research: Epistemological and Methodological Implications. With Sharon Mallon, she co-edited the collection Narratives of COVID: Loss, Dying, Death and Grief during COVID-19.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

The origins of Erica's academic interest in end of life care (03:02)

Erica's international background and its influence on her thinking about palliative care (04:35)

Erica's doctoral research on choice in end of life care (08:38)

Family practices and relationships at the end of life (13:25)

Critiquing the 'compassionate care' discourse (16:55)

Ethnographically analysing the Liverpool Care Pathway (20:46)

'Non-intervention' as a form of care (27:15)

The patient as human versus the patient as person (29:33)

Intimacy and proximity in the context of a global pandemic (34:03)

Loss, dying, death and grief during COVID-19 (37:15)

Research and education on death and dying at The Open University (42:12)

Erica's plans for future research (46:11)

Links to some of Erica's publications

'Planning for death? An ethnographic study of choice and English end-of-life care' (PhD thesis)

'"We don't want to go and be idle ducks": family practices at the end of life'

'Choice and compassion at the end of life: A critical analysis of recent English policy discourse'

'Standardising care of the dying: An ethnographic analysis of the Liverpool Care Pathway in England and the Netherlands'

'Human and person when life is fragile: new relationships and inherent ambivalences in the care of dying patients'

'Ways of "being with": Caring for dying patients at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic'

Open University links

Open Thanatology Hub at OpenLearn

K220 Death, Dying and Bereavement

Some of the researchers and writers mentioned in the episode:

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack

Spiritual care - with Carlo Leget

Tue, 07 May 2024 08:00:00 +0100

How can religious traditions regarding death and dying be adapted for a modern secular culture? What can the concept of 'inner space' contribute to understanding and improving care for the dying and support for the bereaved? And what role do moments of wonder play in the practice of care?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Carlo Leget. Carlo is Professor of Care Ethics at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht in the Netherlands and the co-founder, with Mai-Britt Guldin, of the Center for Grief and Existential Values, which is based in Aarhus, Denmark. Originally trained as a theologian, Carlo has worked in the fields of moral theology, medical ethics, care ethics and spirituality. His publications in English include Living with God: Thomas Aquinas on the Relation between Life on Earth and ‘Life' after Death, published in 1997, the influential book Art of Living, Art of Dying: Spiritual Care for a Good Death, from 2017, and, with Finn Thorbjørn Hansen and Solveig Botnen Eide, the edited collection Wonder, Silence, and Human Flourishing: Toward a Rehumanization of Health, Education, and Welfare, which was published in 2023. Grief and Existential Awareness: an Integrative Approach, co-written with Mai-Britt Guldin, will be published later this year.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Carlo's journey from theology to care ethics (02:45)

The philosophers and writers who have influenced Carlo's thinking (06:58)

The Masters programme in Care Ethics at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht (08:15)

'Art of Living, Art of Dying' (13:23)

The concept of 'inner space' (17:02)

The art of dying model in practice (22:24)

The relevance of the model in a secular and multicultural society (26:19)

A care-ethical approach to euthanasia and assisted dying (30:15)

The Center for Grief and Existential Values (36:32)

An integrative process model of grief and loss (41:57)

'Wonder, Silence and Human Flourishing' (46:49)

The concept of resonance (49:38)

'Wonder Labs' and their relevance for care practice (54:42)

Carlo's plans for future research and writing (57:04)

Links to some of Carlo's publications

'Living with God: Thomas Aquinas on the Relation between Life on Earth and "Life" after Death'

'Art of Living, Art of Dying: Spiritual Care for a Good Death'

'Wonder, Silence, and Human Flourishing: Toward a Rehumanization of Health, Education, and Welfare'

'The integrated process model of loss and grief – an interprofessional understanding’

Other publications mentioned in the episode

Hans-Georg Gadamer, 'Truth and Method'

Joan Tronto, 'Moral Boundaries'

Some of the writers and thinkers discussed in the episode

Thomas Aquinas

Augustine of Hippo

Søren Kierkegaard

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Margaret Urban Walker

Paul Ricoeur

Annelies van Heijst

Frans Vosman

Finn Thorbjørn Hansen

Hartmut Rosa

Mary-Frances O'Connor

Irvin Yalom

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Dance, empathy and care - with Christine Leroy

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 08:00:00 +0100

What is the connection between dance and care, and in what sense can dance be described as an ethical activity? What does it mean to say that empathy is anchored in the body? And what are the implications for the practice of care and for care ethics?

These are some of the questions we discuss in this episode, with Christine Leroy. Christine is a researcher at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, working at the intersection of philosophy, dance, and care ethics. She also directs a dance theatre company and leads contact dance improvisation workshops in clinical settings. Christine is the author of Phénoménologie de la danse: De la chair à l'éthique, published in 2021, which develops original and intriguing connections between the experience of dance and the practice of care. She is also the author of La phénoménologie, published in 2018, a useful introduction to some key phenomenological thinkers, and of Le corps, from 2022. With Chiara Palermo, Christine edited the collection Pesanteur et portance: Une éthique de la gravité, also published in 2022. Although most of Christine’s writings have yet to be translated from French, she is the author of a forthcoming article in English, ‘Performance and bodily anchoring of care: dance’s power to care’, which will be published later this year.

We discuss the following topics in this episode:

Christine's training in dance and philosophy (03:03)

The influence of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and other phenomenological thinkers on Christine's work (05:40)

Phénoménologie de la danse (09:10)

Dance as an ethical activity and the bodily anchoring of care (11:26)

'Kinaesthetic empathy' (15:15)

Kinaesthetic empathy in the dance works of Angelin Preljocaj (21:40)

The influence of Donald Winnicott on Christine's thinking (24:01)

Dance, care and self-care (27:18)

Dance, empathy and disability (28:27)

The concept of portance (33:50)

Translating 'care' (37:25)

Christine's work with 'Clown Up' (41:05)

Working with dance in clinical settings (46:05)

Plans for future research (48:45)

Links to a selection of Christine's publications

Phénoménologie de la danse: De la chair à l'éthique

La phénoménologie

Le corps

Pesanteur et portance: Une éthique de la gravité

Other publications, artworks and organisations mentioned in the episode

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, 'Eye and Mind'

Susan Lanzoni, Empathy: A History

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Émile, ou De l’éducation

Wim Vandekeybus, Blush

Angelin Preljocaj, Le Parc

Angelin Preljocaj, Gravity

Lloyd Newson/DV8, The Cost of Living

'Clown Up'

Some of the writers, thinkers and artists discussed in the episode

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Renaud Barbaras

Jan Patočka

Emmanuel de Saint Aubert

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Revolutionary care - with Maurice Hamington

Sun, 07 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0100

What roles do the body and the imagination play in care? What is the relationship between care ethics and political activism? And how might a commitment to care be personally and socially transformative?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Maurice Hamington, one of the world's leading authorities on care ethics and care theory. Maurice is Professor of Philosophy, and Affiliate Faculty in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, at Portland State University in Oregon in the United States. He is the author or editor of 16 books, including the ground-breaking Embodied Care: Jane Addams, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Feminist Care Ethics (2004), Care Ethics and Political Theory, co-edited with Daniel Engster (2015), and Care Ethics and Poetry, co-written with Ce Rosenow (2019). Maurice’s most recent book, Revolutionary Care: Commitment and Ethos, was published in March 2024.

We cover the following topics in this episode:

Maurice's journey to care ethics (02:45)

Maurice's encounter with feminism (06:07)

Care, embodiment and the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (08:25)

Care as 'habit' and the development of caring masculinities (11:30)

Jane Addams and social habits of care (18:18)

Care, imagination and poetry (23:13)

Care ethics and politics (29:12)

Care ethics and religion (32:52)

'Revolutionary Care' (37:29)

The transformative potential of care (44:35)

Non-western traditions and practices of care (49:43)

Creating a caring economy (52:53)

Care, animals and posthumanism (56:38)

The 'care movement' and progressive politics (59:35)

Maurice's current work and forthcoming publications (01:04:18)

Links to a selection of Maurice's publications

Revealing Male Bodies

Embodied Care: Jane Addams, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Feminist Care Ethics

Care Ethics and Political Theory

Care Ethics and Poetry

Care Ethics, Religion, and Spiritual Traditions

Revolutionary Care: Commitment and Ethos

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in this episode

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Feminism, faith and healthcare ethics - with Ruth Groenhout

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 00:30:00 +0100

What are some of the connections - and tensions - between feminism, religious faith and healthcare ethics? In what ways does a feminist ethic of care offer an alternative to the dominant tradition in Western philosophy? And what can care ethics contribute to some of the difficult debates in contemporary healthcare, for example around new reproductive technologies and assisted dying?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Ruth Groenhout, a Distinguished Professor of Health Ethics in the Department of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Ruth's research in healthcare ethics has focussed on issues of gender, health systems and organisations, and health policy. She has published widely on care ethics, bioethics, feminism and faith, and her many books include Connected Lives: Human Nature and an Ethics of Care (2004), Bioethics: a Reformed Look at Life and Death Choice (2009) and Care Ethics and Social Structures in Medicine (2019).

We cover the following topics in this episode:

The origins of Ruth's interest in healthcare ethics (02:14)

Feminism and faith as key influences on Ruth's thinking about care (05:20)

Connected Lives (06:20)

Care ethics as an alternative philosophical perspective on what makes us human (07:30)

Feminist care ethicists who have shaped Ruth's thinking (09:49)

St. Augustine, Emmanuel Levinas and care theory (12:35)

Human flourishing as an ethical ideal for care (21:55)

Contemporary dilemmas in health care (25:25)

The limitations of evidence-based practice (31:15)

The ethics of healthcare economics (33:15)

End-of-life care (35:45)

Patient power (39:30)

Forgiveness and care (42:33)

Ruth's current work and forthcoming publications (46:15)

Links to a selection of Ruth's publications

Philosophy, Feminism and Faith

Connected Lives: Human Nature and an Ethics of Care

Bioethics: a Reformed Look at Life and Death Choices

Care Ethics and Social Structures in Medicine

'Care Ethics and Forgiveness: Lessons and Errors from the Christian Tradition' in Care Ethics, Religion and Spiritual Traditions

(links to Ruth's forthcoming publications will be added soon)

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in this episode

You can download a transcript of this episode by following this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.

Care ethics, phenomenology, politics and play - with Petr Urban

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 09:00:00 +0100

What is ‘care ethics’ and what are some of the current themes and debates in the ethics of care? How are care, art, play – and democracy - connected? And what can the work of phenomenological thinkers, such as Edith Stein, contribute to an understanding of care?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Petr Urban, a senior researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague and project coordinator of the Center for Environmental and Technology Ethics - Prague. Petr has published books and journal articles on a wide range of topics. His work on care has included explorations of the political dimensions of care, the connections between care ethics and theories of play, and the relevance of the philosophical ideas of Edith Stein for feminist care ethics. He is the co-editor with Lizzie Ward of Care Ethics, Democratic Citizenship and the State, which was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2020. His most recent book, co-written with Dan Swain, is Social Cohesion Contested, which was published by Rowman and Littlefield in January this year.

We cover the following topics in this episode:

Petr's current work (02:50)

The origins of Petr's interest in care ethics (04:40)

Defining 'care ethics' (10:15)

Writers on care ethics who have influenced Petr's thinking (17:55)

Care ethics and 'enactivism' (20:50)

Care ethics and play (27:15)

Play, art and democracy (35:50)

Care and institutions (39:20)

Edith Stein and care ethics (45:50)

Petr's forthcoming publications (58:44)

A selection of Petr’s publications

'Care Ethics and Public Administration', in The Bloomsbury Handbook of Care Ethics, edited by Matilda Carter (forthcoming, 2024)

‘Care Ethics and the Feminist Personalism of Edith Stein’ (2022)

Play and Democracy: Philosophical Perspectives (with Alice Koubová and others, 2022)

‘Enacting Care’ (2015)

Other publications mentioned in the episode

Maurice Hamington, Embodied Care: Jane Addams, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Feminist Ethics (2004)

Virginia Held, The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, Global (2006)

Joan Tronto, Caring Democracy: Markets, Equality and Justice (2013)

Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development (1982)

Sara Ruddick, ‘Maternal Thinking’ (1980)

Daniel Engster, Justice, Care and the Welfare State (2015)

Sophie Bourgault, ‘Prolegomena to a caring bureaucracy’ (2016)

Geoffrey Dierckxsens (ed.) ‘Ethical Dimensions of Enactive Cognition—Perspectives on Enactivism, Bioethics and Applied Ethics’ (Special Issue of Topoi: An International Review of Philosophy, 2022)

Wendy Hollway, The Capacity to Care: Gender and Ethical Subjectivity (2006)

Martha Nussbaum, ‘Winnicott on the Surprises of the Self’ (2006)

Nel Noddings, Caring: A Relational Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (2013)

Sara Heinämaa, Towards a Phenomenology of Sexual Difference: Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Beauvoir (2003)

Inge van Nistelrooij and others (eds.) Care Ethics, Religion and Spiritual Traditions (2022)

Some of the writers and thinkers discussed in the episode

Edmund Husserl

Edith Stein

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Donald Winnicott

Care and cosmopolitanism - with Nigel Rapport

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 09:00:00 +0100

How can we care for others while respecting their individuality? What is meant by a cosmopolitan ethos and how might it motivate care? And can institutions really 'care'? These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Nigel Rapport, Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at St Andrews University in Scotland, founding director of the Centre for Cosmopolitan Studies, and the author of Cosmopolitan Love and Individuality: Ethical Engagement beyond Culture (Rowman and Littlefield).

We cover the following topics in this episode:

The trajectory of Nigel’s career as an anthropologist and the origins of his interest in theories of care (02:40)

The importance of creative writers and artists for Nigel’s anthropological writing (07:55)

The influence of the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas on Nigel’s thinking (11:40)

Nigel's ethnographic fieldwork with porters in a Scottish hospital (22:50)

The notion of the ‘personal preserve’ and the circumstances in which care might require inaction rather than action (30:05)

'Cosmopolitan politesse’ and its potential for transforming personal relationships and public policy (35:35)

How 'categorical thinking' and identity politics distort human individuality (41:00)

A response to criticism that a cosmopolitan ethos might be insufficient to motivate care (47:00)

The caring institution (55:00)

A personal coda on Jewish identity and Nigel’s forthcoming book on Israel and Zionism (01:00:13)

Link to Nigel’s academic profile

The University of St Andrews Centre for Cosmopolitan Studies

A selection of Nigel’s publications

The Trouble with Community: Anthropological Reflections on Movement, Identity and Collectivity (with Vered Amit) (2002)

Of Orderlies and Men: Hospital Porters Achieving Wellness at Work (2008)

‘Anthropology through Levinas: knowing the uniqueness of ego and the mystery of otherness’, Current Anthropology (2015)

Cosmopolitan Love and Individuality: Ethical Engagement beyond Culture (2018)

‘The action and inaction of care: care and the personal preserve’, The Australian Journal of Anthropology (2018)

‘The life-project of personal wellbeing: modern healthcare and the individuality of health’, in Rapport, F. and Braithwaite, J. (eds.) Transforming Healthcare with Qualitative Research (2021)

'I am Here, Abraham said': Emmanuel Levinas and Anthropological Science (forthcoming, April 2024)

Other publications mentioned in the episode

Andrew Dobson, 'Thick cosmopolitanism', Political Studies (2006)

Wendy Hollway, The Capacity to Care: Gender and Ethical Subjectivity (2007)

Alan Dershowitz, The Case for Israel (2004)

Some of the writers and thinkers discussed in the episode

Care, conscience and hospitality - with Xavier Symons

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 09:00:00 +0100

How can a personalist perspective contribute to a better understanding of the experience of people living with dementia? What does it mean to offer hospitality to those in need of care? And why is it important to respect the conscience, and the right to conscientious objection, of healthcare practitioners? These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Xavier Symons, a postdoctoral fellow at the Human Flourishing Program in the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, and the author of Why Conscience Matters: A Defence of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare (Routledge).

We cover the following topics in this episode:

Xavier's current work at Harvard (02:12)

Xavier's earlier academic work (05:38)

Personal and family influences on Xavier's academic journey (11:25)

A personalist perspective on dementia care (15:00)

'Reciprocating care' (22:40)

Recovering the notion of hospitality in care work (26:35)

Hospitality and disponibilité (30:10)

Hospitality and spiritual care (35:00)

Why conscience matters in healthcare (37:30)

The virtuous practitioner (40:55)

Conscientious objection and end of life care (42:00)

Other personal and philosophical influences on Xavier's thinking (49:05)

Links

Xavier's website

The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard

Plunkett Centre for Ethics

Personalism

Catholic social teaching

Xavier's publications

Why Conscience Matters: A Defence of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare (2022)

'Love to the Very End: A Theology of Dementia' (2021)

'The Hostility of Illness and the Therapeutic Importance of Hospitality' (2023)

Other publications mentioned in the episode

Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II), Love and Responsibility

Eva Feder Kittay and Ellen K Feder, The Subject of Care: Feminist Perspectives on Dependency

Gerd S Sellevold et al., 'Quality care for persons experiencing dementia: the significance of relational ethics'

Brendan Sweetman (ed.) A Gabriel Marcel Reader

Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue

O. Carter Snead, What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics

Relational care - with Mary Larkin and Manik Deepak-Gopinath

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 09:00:00 +0100

What is 'relational care' and how can it improve the day-to-day experience of carers and those they care for? What are its implications for relationships between staff and service users in care settings? And how does the concept of relational care enable us to re-imagine the role of place and space in the experience of care? These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Mary Larkin and Manik Deepak-Gopinath who recently completed a research project on the value and practice of relational care with older people.

Mary is Professor of Care, Carers and Caring at The Open University in the UK, where her research has focused on carers and caring and adult social care. She is the co-author, most recently of Family Carers and Caring, published in 2023 by Emerald. Manik is a Lecturer in Ageing, also at The Open University, and is a critical gerontologist with interests in the intersection of ageing, place and wellbeing, and in the intimate and family ties of older adults.

We cover the following topics in this episode:

Mary's background and research interests (02:35)

Manik's background and research interests (06:00)

Defining relational care (08:40)

The research project (12:45)

The relational care toolkit (19:20)

The role of place and space in relational care (21:40)

Relationships in relational care (27:15)

Spreading the word about relational care (32:40)

Relevance of relational care to other care contexts (36:35)

What's next for Mary? (38:35)

What's next for Manik? (39:30)