Care work

Dès les années 1960, l’État québécois s’est fortement engagé dans le secteur public, en particulier dans les domaines de l’éducation et de la santé. Cependant, les années 1980 ont marqué un tournant. Dans un contexte de remise en question du providentialisme, le gouvernement procède à des coupes budgétaires importantes, adopte plusieurs lois spéciales et met en œuvre diverses réformes qui ont affecté les services publics et les programmes sociaux. Cette thèse vise à comprendre comment les travailleuses de l’éducation et de la santé ont vécu le tournant néolibéral de l’État québécois dans les années 1980. En m’appuyant sur les approches de l’économie politique féministe, je démontre comment le virage néolibéral a entraîné une « crise de la reproduction sociale » qui a affecté les trajectoires professionnelles et personnelles des travailleuses, avec des répercussions durables dans les milieux de l’éducation et des soins.

Quatre espaces ont été explorés et constituent les chapitres principaux de la thèse. Les chapitres 2 (Écoles) et 3 (Hôpitaux) présentent les transformations dans ces services publics, notamment en ce qui concerne la précarisation des conditions d’emploi, l’alourdissement et la complexification du travail, ainsi que les bouleversements dans le rapport à la profession des enseignantes et des soignantes. Alors que ces deux secteurs ont été examinés dans des champs historiographiques distincts, leur analyse au sein d’une même étude permet de mettre en évidence des similitudes quant aux perturbations qu’ont subies ces milieux d’emploi féminins. Le quatrième chapitre (Syndicats) se penche sur les rondes de négociations et les grèves de 1983, 1986 et 1989 dans le secteur public, en portant une attention particulière à la reconfiguration des stratégies et des revendications syndicales, ainsi qu’au déroulement plus « quotidien » des conflits. En fin de chapitre, il est question des expériences des travailleuses dans les structures syndicales – encore fortement masculinisées – et des retombées de leur implication, qui ont été largement sous-étudiées par l’historiographie syndicale. Le cinquième et dernier chapitre (Foyers) expose les changements dans les modèles conjugaux et familiaux des années 1980, ainsi que les débats entourant l’élaboration d’une première politique familiale québécoise sur fond de montée du néolibéralisme et de responsabilisation des ménages. J’aborde l’impact de la crise économique et de la précarisation sur la vie quotidienne des travailleuses ainsi que les conséquences du désengagement de l’État sur le travail gratuit des femmes, notamment quant à la prise en charge des personnes vulnérables. Le chapitre s’achève sur les luttes menées par les femmes pour « améliorer le quotidien ». Dans une conjoncture particulièrement difficile, d’importantes mobilisations entraînent des avancées décisives en matière de congés de maternité et d’accès aux garderies.

Ce projet, qui s’appuie sur un vaste corpus de sources orales et de sources textuelles, apporte plusieurs contributions importantes à l’historiographie québécoise, en particulier dans les domaines de l’histoire des femmes, du syndicalisme, de l’État et des services publics. Alors que plusieurs travaux ont été consacrés à l’État-providence québécois, sa remise en cause à travers le néolibéralisme a été peu étudiée dans une perspective historique. Plus largement, cette thèse jette un nouvel éclairage sur une décennie souvent perçue comme une période de reculs, en mettant de l’avant les mobilisations des travailleuses pour la défense des services publics et l’obtention de nouveaux acquis.

Ob auf dem Gebiet des Arbeitsrechts, der Arbeitsorganisation oder der Entlohnung -die Staaten Osteuropas weisen große Unterschiede auf. Diese spiegeln sowohl unterschiedliche historische und kulturelle Traditionen wider als auch ungleiche Entwicklungsniveaus der jeweiligen Volkswirtschaft. Dieser Sachverhalt schlägt sich vor allem im Arbeitsrecht der untersuchten Länder nieder: Während die Wochenarbeitszeit in der UdSSR im Durchschnitt 40,6 Stunden beträgt, liegt sie in Rumänien häufig noch bei 48 Stunden. Gleiches gilt für die durchschnittliche Dauer des Urlaubs: hier liegt die DDR mit 18 Werktagen an der Spitze, während Ungarn mit 12 Tagen das Schlußlicht bildet. Im Hinblick auf Mutterschaftsurlaub bewirkte die angesichts von Geburtenrückgang und entsprechenden Arbeitskräfteproblemen in diesen Ländern betriebene Bevölkerungspolitik eine Verlängerung: er reicht von 16 bis zu 20 Wochen. Gemeinsam ist den Staaten Osteuropas, daß sie vor großen Problemen im Hinblick auf Arbeitsorganisation, Disziplin und Partizipation der Arbeitskräfte stehen, wobei all dies verknüpft ist mit einer unbedingt erforderlichen Steigerung der Arbeitsproduktivität. Diese Fragen waren für alle Fünfjahrespläne der jüngsten Zeit bedeutsam. In der DDR liegt der Schwerpunkt auf der Arbeitsqualität; in Rumänien herrscht Zwang vor mit Gefängnisstrafen, die bis zu zwei Jahren für den Arbeiter reichen können, der seinen Arbeitsplatz ohne triftigen Grund verläßt. In der Sowjetunion und in Bulgarien setzt man auf die Durchführung des Brigaden-Systems, in dem die Arbeitskräfte kollektive Verantwortung für ihre Arbeitsergebnisse tragen und in dem jeder nach seinem tatsächlichen Beitrag zur Arbeitsleistung entlohnt wird. Auch auf dem Gebiet der Arbeitsentlohnung ergibt sich ein buntes Bild. Zwei Elemente jedoch gelten gemeinsam für die Lohnpolitik der untersuchten Länder Osteuropas: die Reform der Gestaltung des Lohnfonds und eine gestaffelte Lohnpolitik. Die unterschiedlichen politischen Strategien gelten erst seit zu kurzer Zeit, als daß ihre Auswirkungen schon verläßlich eingeschätzt werden könnten.

La presente investigación tiene como sujeto de estudio a un grupo ocupacional conformado por dos conjuntos de maestros normalistas de dos unidades educativas fiscales. Los sujetos fueron analizados desde una perspectiva de clase y movilidad social. De forma específica, se analiza a los maestros desde las características de su trabajo (sueldo, motivación, estudios y trabajos paralelos, perspectivas a futuro y trabajo doméstico), movilidad familiar (geográfica, educativa, ocupacional, fecundidad y matrimonio) y estilo de vida (varios temas de cotidianidad, consumo, ocio, propiedades e identidad). El análisis busca caracterizar la posición social de los maestros y extrapola las conclusiones para los profesionales como propuesta empírica de clase social.

Migrant women are the primary source of paid domestic labor around the world. Since the 1980s, the newly prosperous countries of East Asia have recruited foreign household workers at a rapidly increasing rate. Many come from the Philippines and Indonesia. Pei-Chia Lan interviewed and spent time with dozens of Filipina and Indonesian domestics working in and around Taipei as well as many of their Taiwanese employers. On the basis of the vivid ethnographic detail she collected, Lan provides a nuanced look at how boundaries between worker and employer are maintained and negotiated in private households. She also sheds light on the fate of the workers, “global Cinderellas” who seek an escape from poverty at home only to find themselves treated as disposable labor abroad.
Lan demonstrates how economic disparities, immigration policies, race, ethnicity, and gender intersect in the relationship between the migrant workers and their Taiwanese employers. The employers are eager to flex their recently acquired financial muscle; many are first-generation career women as well as first-generation employers. The domestics are recruited from abroad as contract and “guest” workers; restrictive immigration policies prohibit them from seeking permanent residence or transferring from one employer to another. They care for Taiwanese families’ children, often having left their own behind. Throughout Global Cinderellas, Lan pays particular attention to how the women she studied identify themselves in relation to “others”—whether they be of different classes, nationalities, ethnicities, or education levels. In so doing, she offers a framework for thinking about how migrant workers and their employers understand themselves in the midst of dynamic transnational labor flows.

Unremunerated care work that women perform in India is the invisible spine of the Indian economy that supports households and ensures social welfare. However, such work is invisible in official economic measures and underappreciated in policy settings. This article explores the political economy of women's unpaid care work from the perspectives of feminist economics and the GAD perspective. Based on the work of Diane Elson and Nancy Folbre among others, we consider how traditional economic models and patriarchal norms help to render women's unpaid labor invisible. The feminization of obligation by Sylvia Chant, has resulted to unequally distributed care work to women, restricting them from participation in the formal labor force and thereby perpetuating gender disparities. We then assess the effect of unpaid care work on macroeconomic aggregates and labour market structures and argue for the integration of such work into national accounting systems as recently advocated in amendments made to the System of National Accounts (SNA). Recommended policies include care-responsive budgeting, investment in public care infrastructure and the promotion of shared responsibility via parental leave policies. Acknowledgment of unpaid care work is a key to inclusive growth, as well as for enabling women in India's development narrative.

Unremunerated care work that women perform in India is the invisible spine of the Indian economy that supports households and ensures social welfare. However, such work is invisible in official economic measures and underappreciated in policy settings. This article explores the political economy of women's unpaid care work from the perspectives of feminist economics and the GAD perspective. Based on the work of Diane Elson and Nancy Folbre among others, we consider how traditional economic models and patriarchal norms help to render women's unpaid labor invisible. The feminization of obligation by Sylvia Chant, has resulted to unequally distributed care work to women, restricting them from participation in the formal labor force and thereby perpetuating gender disparities. We then assess the effect of unpaid care work on macroeconomic aggregates and labour market structures and argue for the integration of such work into national accounting systems as recently advocated in amendments made to the System of National Accounts (SNA). Recommended policies include care-responsive budgeting, investment in public care infrastructure and the promotion of shared responsibility via parental leave policies. Acknowledgment of unpaid care work is a key to inclusive growth, as well as for enabling women in India's development narrative.

This paper examines the obstacles to the women's contribution to sustainable development goals (SDGs) as well as the roles they could play in driving SDGs. The focus of the paper is on Africa, which is a continent where gender disparities in development remains a challenge. Yet, the women in Africa have historically played key roles in caregiving and resource management. The paper is hinged on conceptual and theoretical approach using secondary data derived from published and unpublished sources with analysis based of thematic approach using document analysis. Some of the obstacles identified and discussed include discrimination in employment, limited access to financial resources, inadequate property rights, health disparities, educational inequities and cultural norms. The paper further examines the important roles that women could play in shaping public policies, advocating for gender equality and ensuring community resilience. The paper therefore emphasizes the importance of empowering women with financial resources, improved access to education and leadership opportunities, which are critical to facilitating inclusive development and growth. Ultimately, the paper concludes that advancing gender justice is both a fundamental human right and a significant strategy for achieving sustainable development and the SDGs in Africa. It is recommended therefore that government and civil society actors must prioritize women inclusion in decision making and gender equality principles in all community development efforts in order to ensure that women are not only beneficiaries, but also active contributors to sustainable development.

Often adopting a feminist perspective, the sociological literature on migrant domestic services (MDS) does not make explicit which feminist paradigm it speaks from. This article situates this literature within ongoing debates in feminist theory, in particular the tension between materialist and poststructuralist approaches. Then, it discusses the empirical relevance of each of those two paradigms on the example of the results of original research into the personalization of employment relationships in MDS. The contribution proposes a new way of making sense of the diversity of feminist theories, distinguishing between modern and postmodern approaches. Indeed, since the 1980s, feminist theory in the US and Western Europe has undergone a ‘postmodern turn’, which renders previous typologies much less up-to-speed with recent developments in the field. Then, the article examines which paradigms are implicit in the sociological literature on MDS. Initially, personalization in MDS was main...

The intersecting crises of 2020 had profound impacts on disabled young children. Existing literature has centered on the challenges disabled children faced and the interventions they needed. Few studies have offered counternarratives that showcase their critical insights, playful interactions, or relational meaning making. In this qualitative case study, we explored how disabled young children and their caregivers used language and literacy as they processed converging social crises. Drawing on critical childhood studies and crip linguistics, we share findings from analyses of virtual art/writing workshops. We highlight how children and caregivers recognized one another's meaning making, co-constructed spaces for refusal, and navigated fantasy and reality together. Out findings contribute to literature on early childhood education, literacy studies, and disability studies in education. MAGGIE BENEKE is an associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Washington. She studies how disabled young children, their families, and their teachers negotiate, refuse, and imagine beyond oppressive notions of normalcy. She considers how such expressions and enactments can inform shifts in teacher education and early childhood education. EMILY MACHADO is an associate professor of early childhood education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research explores the teaching and learning of writing in multilingual early childhood classrooms. A former first grade teacher, she is deeply interested in making classroom spaces more equitable, inclusive, and humanizing for all young children. JORDAN TAITINGFONG is a doctoral student of inclusive early childhood education at the University of Washington. Her scholarly work focuses on how educators support disabled Black and Brown young children and their families in inclusive settings.

Grenzüberschreitungen sind ein Strukturelement von Transnationalisierungsprozessen. Das Überschreiten von Grenzen wird dabei als gegeben angenommen. Die COVID-19-bedingten Reiseeinschränkungen werfen nun die Frage auf ob – und wenn ja wie – (globale) Krisen, die grenzüberschreitende Mobilität zumindest kurzfristig einschränken, transnationale Lebensentwürfe beeinflussen. Der Beitrag setzt an diesem Punkt an und analysiert die Auswirkungen der aktuellen Corona-Maßnahmen auf die Lebenswelt und Zukunftsplanung hochqualifizierter transnationaler Migrant*innen. Damit wird der Blick auf eine Personengruppe gerichtet, die bis zum Ausbruch der Pandemie Anfang 2020 unter sehr privilegierten Bedingungen ihr Leben über nationale Grenzen hinweg entfalten konnte.

This paper contributes to the literature by providing a critical analysis of Portuguese social policy's evolution over the last two decades, specifically focusing on the welfare of the elderly. It argues that despite a recognized expansion of social protection since the country's transition to democracy and "Europeanisation" pressures pushing towards greater defamilisation, policy implementation has been inconsistent, and its scope remains limited. The paper systematically examines four key policy domains—Guarantee of Minimum Resources, Formal/Informal Care, Childcare, and Housing—to demonstrate that Portugal's welfare model remains deeply characterized by "familism," where the family is still a primary source of social welfare, complementing insufficient state support. Through a comparative analysis with other European nations, it highlights that Portuguese policies in areas like long-term care and support for informal caregivers reflect an "implicit familism" , and that housing is considered the "weak pillar" of the welfare state , ultimately concluding that this continued dependence on family solidarity can have considerable negative consequences for the well-being of all generations involved.

The market of domestic services in China has grown rapidly since the country embarked on market transition in the late 1970s. Domestic workers for eldercare are in especially high demand as a result of the aging population and the changing family structure. This paper examines the relative pay of domestic workers for eldercare and its underlying determinants. The estimates show that holding constant the observable individual characteristics, domestic workers for eldercare earn 24 percent less than do other types of workers in the service sector in Shanghai. The analysis attributes the low wage of eldercare workers to the fact that domestic work is culturally devaluated, that eldercare is performed by workers from the most marginalised segment of the labour force in the cities, and that the users of eldercare are relatively poor among the users of paid domestic services.

Eva Fernández Arrue es socióloga e investigadora, especialista en Género y América Latina. Agradecimientos: Este trabajo ha sido posible gracias también a las aportaciones de un buen número de personas e instituciones que en las distintas fases de su elaboración han contribuido con sus observaciones y enfoques desde los distintos países objeto de este estudio. A todas ellas agradecemos sus visiones que han enriquecido notablemente el texto final, contribuyendo a la extensión de las mejores prácticas para el avance efectivo de la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres. Presentación .

पत्रकारितेमधील शिक्षणविषयक संपादकीय व स्फुट लेखनाचे हे स्वरूप शिक्षणाकडे पाहण्याच्या त्यांच्या व्यापक दृष्टिकोनावर प्रकाश टाकते. त्यांनी शिक्षणाशी संबंधित मुद्दे हे केवळ शिक्षणक्षेत्रापुरते मर्यादित न ठेवता, त्याला तत्कालीन समाजकारण, राजकारण व जातिव्यवस्थेशी संबंधित मुद्द्यांची जोड दिली होती. त्याद्वारे त्यांनी शिक्षण हा विषय अधिक व्यापकपणे हाताळला होता.

Against a backdrop of persistent gender inequalities around childcare, recent research suggests that some men – and especially fathers – are engaging to a greater extent in the everyday tasks of social reproduction. However, our understanding of the multiple factors, motivations and institutions that facilitate and constrain this nuanced ‘regendering of care’ phenomenon in different national contexts remains limited. Previous work has theorized the uneven rise of male primary caregiving in North America and Scandinavia. This article extends these debates through an empirical focus on the United Kingdom in the wake of the 2008–09 recession and double dip of 2011–12, to explore male work-care in relation to economic restructuring, welfare spending cuts, rising costs of childcare, policy interventions which seek to culturally and numerically defeminize care work, and concerns over work–life balance in an ‘age of austerity’. The final part of the article explains the significance of a l...

In response to four commentaries on our paper ‘Regendering care in the aftermath of recession?’, we extend our discussion of the ongoing knowledge gap that prevails around shifting patterns of male work/care. Recognizing the spatial limits of extant theories of male primary caregiving, we discuss first the need to attend to the variegated landscapes of male caregiving across the globe. Likewise, the theoretical stakes of expanding the focus of ‘mainstream’ analysis to take account of the situated experiences and knowledges of men and women in countries of the global South. We then consider the subjects of our research inquiry (the ‘who’ of contemporary fathering) and how different definitions of male primary caregivers may reveal or conceal patterns and shifts in male caregiving practices. Lastly we consider questions of scale and research methodology. Although our paper employs a national-level analysis, we fully endorse the use of alternative scalar lenses and underline the need t...

Globalization has changed the topography of world markets and the processes of exchange and agreements. Some of these changes are: movements of human labor across countries; the widening wage diff erentials between the North and the South; the leveling up of standards of services and the changing concept of work across time and space. There are certain demographic changes that have aff ected the supply of and demand for labor in diff erent countries. There is an aging population in richer countries in need of elder care and domestic service on one side, and an oversupply of labor in developing countries willing to take on the job and wage gaps amongst countries on the other. This article seeks to show (and hypothesize) that these processes of labor exchange have aff ected perspectives about the meaning/s of care work, which used to be work in the intimate sphere, but is now part of the public sphere. By looking into the labor market within which these movements are taking place, pol...

This qualitative study investigates the intertwined challenges faced by minority sanitary workers in Pakistan, focusing on the Sargodha region. The research delves into the dual struggle encompassing occupational health hazards and social stigma experienced by these workers. Conducting in-depth interviews with 20 participants from diverse minority backgrounds and genders, this research uncovers multifaceted issues prevalent among these essential workers. Results of the study highlighted the precarious working conditions marked by the absence of adequate protective gear during waste disposal tasks, exposing them to toxic chemicals, infectious waste, and noxious fumes. Respiratory issues, including persistent coughing and chest discomfort, were prevalent due to prolonged exposure to pollutants. Additionally, injuries sustained during waste collection activities posed immediate health risks, compounded by the lack of proper safety measures. The study also uncovered the pervasive social stigma and discrimination faced by these workers, stemming from their occupation and minority status, leading to devaluation, societal exclusion, and marginalization. The findings underscore the urgent need for improved safety protocols, access to protective equipment, and enhanced working conditions to address occupational hazards. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the importance of social advocacy and policy interventions to mitigate societal stigmatization and discrimination against these essential yet vulnerable workers.

This paper is an attempt to examine the impact of newly disease covid-19. Corona virus disease (covid-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered corona virus covid-19. It has taken the form of pandemic all over the world, and has affected education systems. Covid-19 led world's most of schools and colleges to the closure; most government decided to temporarily close educational institution. We can't ignore that technology plays a crucial role in the educational system. The government of every state in Indian tried its way to give alternative of closure of institution. There are a lot of techniques which are being used by these institutions to provide education through online mood. There are various interruption in the execution of online education system in rural India. Shifting traditional classroom to digital classroom explored inequality among the children of urban areas and rural areas. Difference of resource availability in government schools, colleges and private institution easily can be seen and Covid-19 explored this bitter truth of Indian education system. We shall analyze impact of Covid-19 especially on students in rural India.

Akademisk avhandling som med vederbörligt tillstånd av Rektor vid Umeå universitet för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen framläggs till offentligt försvar i Hörsal D, Lindellhallen, fredagen den 20 maj kl. 13.15. Avhandlingen kommer att försvaras på svenska.

This article examines how Filipina domestic workers in London mobilise informal social networks and migrant intermediaries to navigate precarious employment and legal constraints. Based on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation, the study introduces the concept of ambivalent intermediaries-actors who provide critical support while simultaneously reproducing vulnerability. Drawing on feminist ethics of care and the literature on migrant infrastructures, the article theorises ambivalence as a structured condition shaped by moral obligations, emotional reciprocity, and structural exclusion. Rather than framing intermediaries as either exploitative brokers or altruistic helpers, the study shows how Filipina domestic workers themselves become intermediary figures, sustaining mutual aid under hostile migration regimes. The article contributes to scholarship on migrant agency by highlighting how informal infrastructures enable both resistance and dependence within everyday life. It calls for a rethinking of migration governance narratives that criminalise solidarity and informal support networks among migrants.

This paper aims to establish whether, and to what extent, an increase in the public provision of early childhood education and care services (ECEC) has had a positive effect on women’s participation in the labour market in Italy and Spain. It does so by compiling panel data using microdata from the European Labour Force Survey (2006–2018), together with secondary sources of information on public ECEC investment made in the two countries. After controlling for unit heterogeneity and reverse causality, the estimated results indicate a positive correlation with the employment rates of women with children and the number of hours worked, in particular for those without a degree, thus indicating the need to address unequal access to publicly-provided ECEC services.

Hablar de feminismo es hacerlo de la lucha enconada de las mujeres por elevar su dignidad robada por sociedades de explotación. Ya los clásicos del marismo reconocieron que la mujer era la más explotada de todos los explotados. El ser que más penurias y calamidades cargaba sobre su espalda era precisamente ella. Esto es un hecho que debe movilizarnos a todos. Es por ello que las divisiones que se dan entre algunos grupos de feminismos como el marxista y el liberal deben erradicarse en aras de la necesaria unidad. No debemos cometer el error de creer que la emancipación llegará de la mano de reformas y concesiones del capitalismo neoliberal. Solo seremos libres si nos unimos y derrocamos a este sistema de muerte. Luego de tomar el poder, entonces comenzará la más difícil de las batallas, la de construir nuevos simbolismos en los que no quede espacio para ninguna forma de discriminación o explotación.

Le désengagement des enseignant.e.s est un enjeu majeur dans les systèmes éducatifs contemporains, particulièrement en contexte plus densément diversifié, ou plus éloigné culturellement par rapport à la culture majoritaire au Québec. Cette problématique est amplifiée par plusieurs facteurs, dont la gestion axée sur les résultats, le néolibéralisme et le néonationalisme identitaire, qui renforce une vision étroite des identités culturelles et peut intensifier les défis liés à la l’inclusion dans les écoles, en plus de limiter l’autonomie des enseignant.e.s. L’approche systémique de Gregory Bateson, qui souligne comment les systèmes complexes, comme les environnements éducatifs, peuvent être influencés par des paradoxes et des contraintes internes qui affectent leur fonctionnement global. En appliquant cette approche, cette recherche examine les mécanismes sous-jacents au désengagement des enseignants et comment les stratégies mises en place peuvent être influencées par les exigences néolibérales et les attentes socioculturelles.

Teacher disengagement is a major issue in contemporary education systems, particularly in multicultural and diverse contexts. This problem is amplified by several factors, including results-based management, neoliberalism and neo-nationalism, which reinforces a narrow vision of cultural identities and can intensify the challenges related to diversity in schools, in addition to limiting the autonomy of teachers. Gregory Bateson’s
systemic approach, which highlights how complex systems, such as educational environments, can be influenced by paradoxes and internal constraints that affect their overall functioning. By applying this approach, this research examines the mechanisms underlying teacher disengagement and how the strategies put in place can be influenced by neoliberal demands and sociocultural expectations.

A large proportion of long-term care for people with disabilities and/or long-term health conditions is provided by unpaid carers, including young people, with potential impacts on their education, employment and health. Supporting carers is a focus of long-term care practice and policy in many countries. A key part of this support in England is through provision of services to the person with care needs (often called 'replacement' care). We aimed to explore the role of replacement care services in supporting young adult carers' health, education, and employment. We used a mixedmethods approach: self-completed questionnaires and in-depth follow-on interviews. We found ways in which services supported young adult carers but, contrary to previous research, receipt of services by the person with care needs was not associated with better reported carer outcomes in our survey. One key reason for this finding was that not enough services were received to meet care needs and alleviate unpaid caring to a level or type compatible with better outcomes. The wider economic and political context of our study, during fiscal austerity and cuts to social care budgets, and the particular circumstances of young adult carers may offer further explanations.

Tema de investigación: “Los trabajos de cuidado como sostén de los modos de vida: Experiencias desde el Lago de Texcoco”. Desde una experiencia en campo con el movimiento de Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra, se relaciona el trabajo de cuidados como sostén de formas de vida y espacio para la resistencia ante la violencia y proyectos extractivistas, sin romantizar su realización, visibilizando la precarización desde la cual se ejerce.

The article reflects on the ways in which social reproduction intersects with (im)mobility in export-processing zones in Sri Lanka and the outskirts of prisons in Argentina. Framing factories and prisons as “carceral spaces” and drawing upon diverse case study materials, it focuses on (i) the daily circulations and waiting that take place around these closely regulated sites and (ii) the relations of care that emerge in these sites. The article analyzes how gendered care work can be an active form of agency and resistance to structural confinement and violence, which is nevertheless embedded in broader forms of depletion.

Participatory design in socioeconomic development is an invariably political activity fraught with both political as well as ethical entanglements. ICT for development (ICTD)often involved in contexts of great inequality and heteogeneity -places these in especially sharp relief. This paper draws attention to these entanglements as well as what they mean for the role and practice of designer-researchers practicing PD. We then draw upon our experiences in an active PD project to highlight approaches that serve as a partial response to these entanglements. These presents both limitations as well as orientations for our role as designer-researchers in engaging with and organising PD work in ICTD -providing a starting point for answering the question "who participates with whom in what and why?" • Human-centered computing → Participatory design;

Esta introducción al dossier de la Revista de Estudios Sociales, dedicado a la relación entre las ciencias sociales y la inteligencia artificial (IA), parte de la premisa de que las ciencias sociales no solo tienen un papel fundamental en analizar y comprender las profundas transformaciones en la vida humana que ha implicado la irrupción de la IA, sino que también, y principalmente, tienen una función esencial en guiar el desarrollo futuro de la IA para que esté alineado con el bienestar humano y el desarrollo individual. Para asegurarnos de que el diseño, desarrollo, uso y evaluación de los sistemas de IA estén centrados en los seres humanos, necesitamos las herramientas conceptuales, los datos experimentales y la experiencia trabajando con diversas comunidades que pueden proporcionar las ciencias sociales. Una IA centrada en los humanos y alineada con sus intereses requiere de las ciencias sociales para existir. En esta introducción nos hemos centrado en tres áreas en las que consideramos que las ciencias sociales pueden cumplir ese papel de guía para el desarrollo futuro de la IA. Por una parte, consideramos que uno de los efectos más significativos de la IA en la vida humana es la manera en que está reconfigurando las relaciones interpersonales. La IA ha cambiado la forma en que las personas se comunican, forman relaciones, construyen su identidad, cooperan y enfrentan los desacuerdos. Por otra parte, examinamos el impacto de la IA en la igualdad social. Los modelos entrenados con datos históricos tienen el potencial de perpetuar las desigualdades y sesgos sociales reflejados en estos datos y producir resultados que ponen en desventaja a miembros de grupos marginados. Finalmente, nos interesa comprender cómo el desarrollo y uso de las diferentes aplicaciones de la IA influyen en los regímenes políticos, la política pública, la burocracia y el Estado.
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This introduction to the Revista de Estudios Sociales dossier, which explores the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the social sciences, is based on the idea that the social sciences are not only crucial for analyzing and understanding the major changes AI has brought to human life, but also—more fundamentally—for guiding the future development of AI in ways that support human well-being and individual growth. Ensuring that AI systems are designed, developed, used, and evaluated with a human-centered focus requires the conceptual frameworks, empirical data, and community-based expertise that the social sciences offer. Human-centered AI—aligned with human values and interests—depends on these contributions to take shape. This introduction highlights three key areas where we believe the social sciences can provide meaningful guidance for the future direction of AI. First, we examine how AI is reshaping interpersonal relationships—transforming how people communicate, form bonds, construct identities, cooperate, and manage conflict. Second, we consider the impact of AI on social equality. Because models are often trained on historical data, they risk reproducing the inequalities and biases embedded in that data, which can lead to outcomes that disadvantage marginalized groups. Finally, we explore how the development and application of AI influence political regimes, policy-making, bureaucracy, and the role of the state.
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Esta introdução ao dossiê da Revista de Estudios Sociales, dedicado à relação entre as ciências sociais e a inteligência artificial (IA), parte da premissa de que as ciências sociais não apenas desempenham um papel fundamental na análise e compreensão das profundas transformações na vida humana que a irrupção da IA implicou, mas também, e sobretudo, exercem uma função essencial na orientação do desenvolvimento futuro da IA para que esteja alinhada ao bem-estar humano e ao desenvolvimento individual. Para garantir que o projeto, o desenvolvimento, o uso e a avaliação de sistemas de IA sejam centrados no ser humano, são necessários ferramentas conceituais, dados experimentais e conhecimento prático acumulado pelas ciências sociais no trabalho com diversas comunidades. Uma IA centrada nos seres humanos e alinhada a seus interesses depende das ciências sociais para existir. Nesta introdução, concentramo-nos em três áreas nas quais consideramos que as ciências sociais podem desempenhar esse papel como um guia para o desenvolvimento futuro da IA. Por um lado, acreditamos que um dos efeitos mais significativos da IA na vida humana é a maneira como ela está reconfigurando as relações interpessoais. A IA mudou a maneira como as pessoas se comunicam, formam relacionamentos, constroem sua identidade, cooperam e lidam com divergências. Por outro lado, examinamos o impacto da IA na igualdade social. Modelos treinados em dados históricos têm o potencial de perpetuar as desigualdades sociais e os vieses refletidos nesses dados e produzir resultados que prejudicam membros de grupos marginalizados. Por fim, interessa-nos compreender como o desenvolvimento e a utilização das diferentes aplicações da IA influenciam os regimes políticos, a política pública, a burocracia e o Estado.

El desarrollo histórico del capitalismo ha estado estrechamente ligado a transformaciones tecnológicas significativas que han redefinido las relaciones laborales y han transformado la temporalidad social. La era posfordista y la consecuente penetración de la esfera digital han dado lugar a lo que se conoce como capitalismo de plataforma, caracterizado por la proliferación de numerosas aplicaciones digitales que están reconfigurando tanto la esfera de la producción como la del consumo. La mediación tecnológica y el despotismo algorítmico determinan los ritmos y horarios laborales, lo que fomenta la conectividad constante y la competencia. Partiendo de esta premisa, analizamos las experiencias temporales de los repartidores de plataformas como Glovo, Uber Eats, Stuart y Deliveroo en España. Para ello este análisis se apoya en la literatura existente sobre la temporalidad en las sociedades contemporáneas y la temporalidad digital. Establecimos un marco conceptual apoyado en los conceptos de hibridación temporal, aceleración, densificación y tiempo-recurso, los cuales son fundamentales para comprender estas nuevas formas de relaciones laborales y las estrategias de control laboral asociadas a la plataformización. Esta aproximación teórica a los debates sobre la temporalidad en las sociedades contemporáneas nos permite analizar 49 entrevistas con repartidores y repartidoras de diferentes plataformas en dos periodos diferenciados. Así, este estudio combina tanto el análisis discursivo como la revisión bibliográfica y la construcción teórica de conceptos y categorías que puedan captar la especificidad de los marcos temporales y de los procesos de subjetivación en este contexto laboral particular para proponer una nueva categoría de temporalidad laboral, que dialoga con las que habían sido desarrolladas en la literatura.
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The historical evolution of capitalism has been intrinsically linked to major technological transformations that have reshaped labor relations and redefined social temporality. The post-Fordist era, alongside the expansion of the digital sphere, has given rise to platform capitalism, characterized by the proliferation of digital applications that are restructuring both production and consumption. Within this framework, technological mediation and algorithmic control dictate work rhythms and schedules, fostering perpetual connectivity, labor flexibilization, and intensified competition. This study examines the temporal experiences of delivery workers on platforms such as Glovo, Uber Eats, Stuart, and Deliveroo in Spain. The analysis is grounded in existing literature on temporality in contemporary societies and digital labor, establishing a conceptual framework based on the notions of temporal hybridization, acceleration, densification, and time-as-a-resource. These concepts are essential for understanding emerging labor dynamics and the control mechanisms embedded in platform-based work. Through an analysis of 49 in-depth interviews with delivery workers conducted across two distinct periods, the study combines discourse analysis, literature review, and theoretical development to identify the specific temporal structures shaping platform labor. By critically engaging with existing debates on labor temporality, this research proposes a new category of work temporality that captures the distinct temporalities and subjectivities produced within platform-based labor systems.
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O desenvolvimento histórico do capitalismo esteve intimamente ligado a significativas transformações tecnológicas que redefiniram as relações de trabalho e transformaram a temporalidade social. A era pós-fordista e a consequente introdução da esfera digital deram origem ao que é conhecido como capitalismo de plataforma, caracterizado pela proliferação de inúmeros aplicativos digitais que estão reconfigurando tanto o âmbito da produção quanto do consumo. A mediação tecnológica e o despotismo algorítmico determinam os ritmos e horários de trabalho, o que promove a conectividade constante e a concorrência. A partir dessa premissa, analisamos as experiências temporárias de entregadores em plataformas como Glovo, Uber Eats, Stuart e Deliveroo na Espanha. Para isso, esta análise se baseia na literatura existente sobre a temporalidade nas sociedades contemporâneas e a temporalidade digital. Estabelecemos uma estrutura conceitual baseada nos conceitos de hibridização temporal, aceleração, densificação e tempo-recurso, que são fundamentais para compreender essas novas formas de relações de trabalho e as estratégias de controle do trabalho associadas à plataformização. Essa abordagem teórica dos debates sobre a temporalidade nas sociedades contemporâneas nos permite analisar 49 entrevistas com entregadores e entregadoras de diferentes plataformas em dois períodos distintos. Assim, este estudo combina tanto a análise discursiva quanto a revisão bibliográfica e a construção teórica de conceitos e categorias que possam captar a especificidade dos recortes temporais e dos processos de subjetivação nesse contexto profissional particular para propor uma nova categoria de temporalidade do trabalho, que dialoga com aquelas que vinham sendo desenvolvidas na literatura.

Communities across Canada face a shortage of medically trained professionals, the majority of which are nurses, as domestic supply has not kept pace with increasing demand for services. Alongside rising inflation, housing costs, and living expenses, persistent educational and accreditation inequities have created barriers and challenging contexts for internationally educated nurses (IENs) who aim to settle, integrate, and complete professional recertification

Unpaid household work is vital for human reproduction and enables all other forms of work. However, debates about the "future of work" have yet to address unpaid work. In this article, we present first estimates of the impacts of "smart" and "AI" technologies on unpaid work. We ask what the likelihood is of various types of unpaid work being automated, and how this would change the time spent on domestic work and on the gendered division of labour. To achieve this, we adapt three established automation likelihood estimates for paid work occupations to estimate the automation likelihood of 19 unpaid work tasks. Applying these estimates to Japanese and UK national time use data, we find that 50-60% of the total time spent on unpaid work could be saved through automation. The savings are unevenly distributed: a woman aged 20-59 in Japan could save over 1,000 hours per year, whereas men in the UK could save 600 hours and men in Japan only 250 hours. Domestic automation could free up to 9.3% of women in Japan and 5.8% of women in the UK to take up full-or part-time employment, pointing to substantial potential economic and social gains from domestic automation.

Aides providing long-term care in home- and community-based settings in the US experience low wages and poor conditions. Worker advocates seek to improve care jobs through policy change, a multifaceted endeavour given the complexity of health and labour policies in a federal system. This theoretical overview draws on labour process theory to delineate domains of work and legal consciousness theory to highlight challenges related to ‘sources of authority’ governing each domain. For the context of publicly funded care provided through agencies, we identify aide actions related to these sources that could support rights claiming and suggest research to inform policy improvements.

Assisted reproductive technologies allow women to sell the service of gestating a fetus, but maintain little or no claim to the product of that labor: the child itself. In the context of transnational Indian surrogacy, this situation is exacerbated by the physical and cultural distance between intended parents and surrogates. The productive nature of the care and nurturing provided through the work of mothering becomes more visible when viewed though the commodification of commercial surrogacy. Once commodified, this work of care also becomes subject to the alienation of capitalist relations, which invites us to investigate the social and economic implications of the work of mothering in surrogacy. I argue that care and nurture in transnational Indian surrogacy invest human vital energy as a form of value directly into other human beings, through the biological and affective labor involved in surrogate work, thereby supporting the lives of those individuals, families and societies that consume this energy.

As countries like South Korea expand their paid care services, ensuring quality care has become critical. Since care work involves significant emotional labor, a worker’s sense of responsibility for the care recipient's well-being affects the quality of care delivered. In this study, we explore this particular determinant of quality care that has been underexplored to better understand its nature. However, a worker's sense of responsibility or commitment level is not static and varies depending on various factors including working conditions. Using 2018 Korean childcare and eldercare survey data, we empirically examine the relationship between a worker's commitment levels and working conditions by conducting Tobit and generalized maximum entropy (GME) analyses. Results indicate that training, shorter commutes, predictable schedules, and easy interactions with the care recipient’s family are associated with higher levels of commitment. Our findings highlight the importanc...

This paper will critically engage with literary fiction depicting caregiving to understand how within a postcolonial, neoliberal predicament caring for a loved one becomes a direct exercise in facing one's lived precarity. Engagement with primary texts like Jerry Pinto's Em and the Big Hoom (2012) and Mary HK Choi's Yolk (2021) will follow a close-reading of discursive elements in the texts which show how caregivers exemplify the precarity of gendered, racialised and working-class subjects in late capitalist societies who are also responsible for another. This (an)other is an ailing subject and doubly exposed and vulnerable to the draining effects of racial and class relations. Discursive analysis will include looking at aspects like moral dilemma exhibited by caregivers, negotiations with acts of giving and receiving care, and contestations with one's own identity in the face of increasingly alienating forces. The ethics of care as a philosophical concept dealing with vulnerability and interdependencies is imperative to any study on precarity. This paper seeks to bring this imperative into the study of literary fiction to develop newer modalities of studying precarity with respect to negotiations with the self and its responsibility towards the other in the process of caring for them.

This review evaluates two books on faith-based organizations (FBOs) and their role in welfare governance in Turkey. Religious philanthropy has historically been a common institution across various cultures, geographies, and religious traditions. Despite differences in doctrine and practice, FBOs worldwide have consistently contributed to the politics of welfare provision, grounded in moral and religious duties. While some modern states have sought to limit welfare provision to secular institutions, many, including Germany and Turkey, have increasingly incorporated religious organizations into their welfare frameworks to address contemporary challenges, such as rising poverty and social exclusion. This broader entanglement of religion and welfare provision has become particularly salient in the Turkish context, where the intersections of neoliberal restructuring, political Islam, and expanding faith-based service delivery have reshaped the landscape of social policy in the last three decades. The liberalization of the economy and politics after the 1980s resulted in increasing demand for social provision, where the proliferation of FBOs took place along with the expansion of social assistance by central and local governments. These developments coincided with the rise of Political Islam, particularly under the Justice and Development Party (AKP, as the Turkish acronym goes), making Turkey a compelling case through which to examine the evolving role of FBOs in welfare provision in a complex and ideologically charged landscape. Gizem Zencirci's The Muslim Social and Hilal Alkan's Welfare as Gift books offer a timely and crucial perspective on the domestic underpinnings of social policy in Turkey, where we witness a rapid rise in the number and scale of FBOs in welfare provision under the AKP era. A shared concern across the two studies is how these organizations function in specific local settings and how they (re)configure social policy on the ground. While religious philanthropy has long played a role in Turkish welfare provision, these books demonstrate how its forms, ideological foundations, and political implications have significantly evolved under AKP rule. Given the common concern between the two books, I have decided to co-review them, a somewhat unusual undertaking, perhaps. Alkan's Welfare as Gift is grounded in ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2008 and 2009 in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri. Focusing on the practices of FBOs, the study offers an in-depth account of the embodied and affective encounters between aid providers (often women volunteers) and beneficiaries, and it sheds light

The article analyses the relation between migrant men, masculinity, and remittances in the context of South Indian im-mobility with respect to Italy as a destination country. The analysis captures the unorthodox positioning of lower-class migrant men with respect to social scripts emphasising the hegemonic role of skilled migrant men as leading remitting subjects. The inversion of dominant and gendered remittance scripts through feminised migration towards Italy is deemed by contemporary upper-middle
classes to contaminate a public masculinised history of Kerala transnationalism. Against this backdrop, elder married men actively engage with a model of left-behind husband and caring masculinities, while young husbands more frequently enter into conjugal
conflicts. The analysis stresses the need for a relational approach to the study of the gender-remittance nexus, one that considers the public/private divide, men’s experiences as dependent subjects, and the hierarchical stratification across transnational migration
contexts of remittance scripts.

In the context of the Global South, neoliberal policy regimes have significantly influenced labor markets, particularly informal economies and care work. This paper explores how gendered labor relations are being reshaped by the rise of informal economies and the growing dependence on care work in urban peripheries. Women’s labor participation in informal and care sectors often reflects historical gender inequalities, exacerbated by neoliberal restructuring, privatization, and state withdrawal from social welfare. The paper examines how these dynamics reconfigure gender roles, labor market participation, and household economies, highlighting the complex intersection of gender, class, and neoliberal economic frameworks.

This paper investigates how neoliberal reforms in welfare states across the Global North have contributed to the systemic undervaluation of care work, reinforcing existing gendered labor inequalities. Drawing on comparative political economy, feminist theory, and empirical case studies from OECD countries, the paper identifies patterns in the outsourcing, informalization, and decommodification of care labor. The findings reveal that neoliberal restructuring deepens dependency on unpaid and underpaid female labor, exacerbating the gender wage gap and social stratification.

New research by Oxfam and partners reveals that while COVID-19 and the related containment efforts have caused increases in women’s – and men’s – unpaid care workloads, women are still doing the bulk of this work. Women living in poverty, single mothers and essential workers as well as those belonging to minority racial and ethnic groups are being pushed furthest to the margins. It shows the real consequences this has for the health, economic security and wellbeing of these women and their families. Women report feeling more anxious, depressed, overworked or ill because of their increased unpaid care work.  Care work is essential to the healthy functioning of our societies and economies and must be better supported through policy and social norms change.  Care work must be at the heart of a feminist COVID-19 recovery.

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En el presente artículo el autor lleva a cabo una revisión crítica de la definición y el contenido de los "cuidados informales" de larga duración que se proveen en el ámbito de la atención familiar. Las razones por las que se les aplica la denominación de "informales" se relacionan con su proximidad y vinculación con el "trabajo" doméstico-reproductivo, que al ser "cosa de mujeres" es invisible y no se remunera, por lo que su "informalización" supone el reforzamiento de esta característica de desigualdad de género. El marco normativo en el que sustenta este imaginario se basa en el supuesto de que la crianza y el cuidado son principalmente una responsabilidad y una competencia de las mujeres ("familiarización" y "ética del cuidado"). El autor concluye con una propuesta que integra las dicotomías que enfrentan lo "formal" y lo "informal" y el trabajo remunerado y no remunerado de cuidados: los "servicios sociales de cuidados". Palabras clave: "cuidados informales" de larga duración, género y "servicios sociales de cuidados". The long-term "informal care" at the context of the ideological, societal and gender construction of the social care In the present article the autor makes a critical review of the definition and content of the long-term "informal care" provided in the field of family care. The reasons for applying it the appellation of "informal" relate to their proximity and linkage to the house-reproductive "work", that like a "women question" it remains _____________ * El artículo presenta con ligeras modificaciones la primera parte del Capítulo 2 inédito

Demographic aging can alter physical and social infrastructures in cities, and reshape the broader dynamic processes that theories of urbanization seek to describe and analyze. We argue that both urban and eldercare policy often render paid reproductive labor and the workers who do it invisible. They are invisiblized in both policy and urban space. A neoliberal bias in urban policies, reconstructed in the rhetoric of global cities/creative cities, denies care needs. Normative approaches exacerbate this issue, as in gendered ideologies of home, care and familial responsibility. These approaches too often detach the delicate social problem of eldercare in itself from its feasibility and desirability as a site for paid labor. In that separation, the paid workforce typically disappears from the spotlight. We use comparative case studies and the concept of territorialization to refocus on the urban context of paid eldercare work in two "aspiring" global cities, Shanghai and Vancouver.

Demographic aging can alter physical and social infrastructures in cities, and reshape the broader dynamic processes that theories of urbanization seek to describe and analyze. We argue that both urban and eldercare policy often render paid reproductive labor and the workers who do it invisible. They are invisiblized in both policy and urban space. A neoliberal bias in urban policies, reconstructed in the rhetoric of global cities/creative cities, denies care needs. Normative approaches exacerbate this issue, as in gendered ideologies of home, care and familial responsibility. These approaches too often detach the delicate social problem of eldercare in itself from its feasibility and desirability as a site for paid labor. In that separation, the paid workforce typically disappears from the spotlight. We use comparative case studies and the concept of territorialization to refocus on the urban context of paid eldercare work in two “aspiring” global cities, Shanghai and Vancouver.