Recognition, rights and the redistribution of care in Europe: political tensions and spaces

Summary: In order to understand the social politics of care provision and policies, this seminar examines how care needs are interpreted in Europe. It looks at this from two perspectives: first, from the claims for state support to emerge ‘from below’, that is, from movements and organisations of those with unpaid and paid caring responsibilities or needs for support; and second, from care policies ‘from above’ – from supranational organisations and national governments. It proposes that these perspectives represent two overlapping but competing frames for interpreting care needs: social justice (from below) and social investment (from above). The paper argues that while the social investment frame has provided spaces to raise issues associated with the social justice claims, it has, at the same time, led to policies that have undermined those claims. It concludes with a discussion of how care might find greater social value.