ReValuing Care in Theory Law and Policy

<p>Care is central to life and yet is all too often undervalued taken for granted and hidden from view. This collection of fourteen substantive and highly innovative essays along with its insightful introduction seeks to explore the different dimensions of care that shape social legal and political contexts. It addresses these dimensions in four key ways. First the contributions expand contemporary theoretical understandings of the value of care by reflecting upon established conceptual approaches (such as the 'ethics of care') and developing new ways of using and understanding this concept. Second the chapters draw on a wide range of methods from doctrinal scholarship through ethnographic empirical and biographical research methodologies. Third the book enlarges the usual subjects of care research by expanding its analysis beyond the more typical focus on familial interconnection to include professional care contexts care by strangers and care for and about animals. Finally the collection draws on contributions from academics working in Europe and Australia across law anthropology gender studies politics psychology and sociology. By highlighting the points of connection and tension between these diverse international and disciplinary perspectives this book outlines a new and nuanced approach to care exploring contemporary understandings of care across law the social sciences and humanities. </p>