Preventing the Exploitation of Activists' Care

Care exploitation is a pervasive yet undertheorized injustice that emerges in both our interpersonal and structural relationships. Among those that are particularly vulnerable to this injustice are activists, those invested in bringing about positive change precisely because of how deeply they care...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: McKittrick-Sweitzer, Lavender (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2024
In: Ethical theory and moral practice
Year: 2024, Volume: 27, Issue: 2, Pages: 253-267
IxTheo Classification:NBE Anthropology
NCA Ethics
NCC Social ethics
NCD Political ethics
VA Philosophy
ZC Politics in general
Further subjects:B Activism
B Iris Marion Young
B Solidarity
B Care
B Exploitation
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:Care exploitation is a pervasive yet undertheorized injustice that emerges in both our interpersonal and structural relationships. Among those that are particularly vulnerable to this injustice are activists, those invested in bringing about positive change precisely because of how deeply they care about a given cause. Care exploitation occurs when an individual with caring attitudes is called to aid in the flourishing of a subject (e.g., LGBTQ + rights, anti-racism, conservation) by another that presumes they will answer said call simply because they care. In this work I offer an account of what it takes to prevent care exploitation in the narrow context of activism. Drawing on the work of Iris Marion Young, I argue that we have a political responsibility to (at the very least) adopt a stance of solidarity with activists by virtue of our structural relationships with them. This demands two things of us: (i) being sensitive to activists' well-being and (ii) supporting their capacity for self-authorship.
ISSN:1572-8447
Contains:Enthalten in: Ethical theory and moral practice
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10677-024-10435-2