Rethinking Care: Towards Gender Equality

The organization of care is an essential element of any society – and a fundamental determinant of gender relations. Who can and who must care for whom, when and on what terms? The answers to these questions are often regarded as “private matters;” they are, in fact, reflected in, and impacted by, public policies. In recent years, care policies have been a matter of intense debate. Remarkable social innovations in some contexts have been accompanied by attempts to mold care in ways that bolster more traditional family arrangements in others. Focusing on the care of young children in reference to countries in Europe and Latin America as well as to the United States, this 7-week course will explore the assumptions on which care systems rest, their interactions with labor markets and family structures, their implications for gender equality and social stratification, and how more equitable solutions might be structured. Students will engage with a broad range of materials, including data sets, legal texts, policy briefs, case studies and theoretical analyses.