• Communities of care - with Lorraine Krall McCrary
    Jun 10 2025

    How can we ensure that people with intellectual disabilities participate fully in political life? What lessons can we learn from communities of care in which disabled and non-disabled people live together? And what should be the relationship between local communities of care and wider social and political structures?

    These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Lorraine Krall McCrary. Lorraine is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Wabash College, a liberal arts school in Indiana, and a research associate at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. She has a doctorate in political theory from Georgetown University and previously taught at Washington University in St. Louis and at Villanova University. Lorraine's search brings together disability studies and feminist care ethics, and she also writes about topics in politics and literature, as well as the relationship between the family and politics. Lorraine is currently in the final stages of writing a book based on her most recent research, with the working title Care Communities: Politics in a Different Voice.

    We discuss the following topics in this episode:

    Lorraine's work as a political theorist and the roots of her interest in disability issues (02:35)

    Hannah Arendt's theory of 'natality' (05:00)

    Natality and the politics of birth at Auschwitz (07:36)

    Bearing witness in dark times (10:45)

    Lorraine's use of literary sources in her work on disability (12:40)

    Jane Addams and the politics of human interconnectedness (16:05)

    Lorraine's research with communities of care at L'Arche, Camphill, and Geel (21:13)

    Towards a relational understanding of reason (28:58)

    The idea of community in the political thought of Alexis de Tocqueville (33:00)

    Jean Vanier and revelations of abuse at L'Arche (36:12)

    Abuse as 'relational tyranny' (39:12)

    The notion of subsidiarity in feminist care ethics and Catholic Social Teaching (44:08)

    The role of the state in relation to communities of care (49:00)

    Relational caring at a community level as cultivating a wider sense of social solidarity (52:57)

    Future directions for Lorraine's research (56:20)

    A selection of Lorraine's publications

    'Geel's Family Care Tradition: Care, Communities, and the Social Inclusion of Persons with Disability' (2017)

    'Re-Envisioning Independence and Community: Critiques from the Independent Living Movement and L'Arche' (2017)

    'Natality and Disability: From Augustine to Arendt and Back' (2018)

    'From Hull-House to Herland: Engaged and Extended Care in Jane Addams and Charlotte Perkins Gilman' (2018)

    'The Politics of Community: Care and Agency in People with Intellectual Disabilities at L'Arche' (2020)

    '"A...

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    58 mins
  • Revelations of divine care - with Melody Escobar
    May 19 2025

    What can we learn about care from the experiences of mothers of children with disabilities? How can the writings of a medieval Christian mystic deepen our understanding of maternal love and care? Can the religious emphasis on kenosis, or self-giving love, be reconciled with a feminist perspective on care? And to what extent does the practice of intimate caregiving lead to a wider concern with equity and social justice?

    These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Melody Escobar. Melody is a postdoctoral research associate at Baylor University, a private Christian University in Waco, Texas, where she is a research scholar for the Baylor Collaborative on Faith and Disability, in the Center for Developmental Disabilities, and where she lectures on religion and disability, eco-justice, and mysticism.

    Before completing her doctorate in Christian spirituality at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Melody had a career in corporate communications spanning 18 years. She has served as a Catholic lay minister for more than 10 years in various capacities and she has also worked as a chaplain resident. Melody’s research and publications in Christian spirituality and practical theology focus on families who experience disability, innovative models of ministry, and curricula advancing inclusion and belonging in academic and spiritual life.

    Melody is the author of the book Revelations of Divine Care: Disability, Spirituality, and Mutual Flourishing, which was published in 2024 by Baylor University Press, as part of their Studies in Religion, Theology, and Disability series.

    We discuss the following topics in this episode:

    Melody's personal, spiritual and academic journey (03:55)

    Melody's experience as the mother of a child with a disability (06:00)

    Equine-assisted therapy for children with disabilities (08:02)

    The influence of the writings of Julian of Norwich on Melody's thinking (10:25)

    The horse ring as a sacred space of community and belonging (13:55)

    The importance of hospitality (17:01)

    Melody's research with mothers of children with disabilities (19:10)

    The importance of giving voice to mothers' experiences (25:12)

    The key themes emerging from Melody's research (27:00)

    Faith, spirituality, and care (29:20)

    The contested role of kenotic, or self-giving love, in care (32:25)

    The need for structural and policy reform to support mothers' caregiving (35:23)

    The vision of maternal love in Julian of Norwich's writings (37:25)

    Widening the circle of loving care (40:37)

    The lessons of Melody's research for churches and faith communities (43:35)

    Developments in disability theology (47:44)

    Melody's forthcoming book 'Belonging Under The Bridge' (50:07)

    Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in the episode

    Julian of Norwich

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    53 mins
  • Careful Thinking - Trailer
    Apr 2 2025

    Careful Thinking explores ideas about care and features conversations with researchers, writers and practitioners at the cutting edge of current thinking about care. It was launched in November 2023 and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

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    1 min
  • Creating, knowing, and caring - with Merel Visse
    Apr 1 2025

    How are the practice of art and the practice of care connected? In what ways might intellectual inquiry be a caring practice? And what part do wonder, poetry and 'unknowing' play in research - and in care?

    These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Merel Visse. Merel is a scholar, artist, editor and educator. She holds a faculty position in the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies at Drew University in New Jersey in the United States, where she chairs a master’s and doctoral degree program. Merel is also affiliated with the University of Humanistic Studies in the Netherlands, Care Ethics Chair. She serves on several editorial boards in the U.S.A. and was an artist in residence at the New York School of Visual Arts, and in 2018 at the NARS Foundation in Brooklyn. In the Netherlands, Merel co-founded the Meaningful Artistic Research Program, a collaboration between the University of Humanistic Studies and HKU University of the Arts, and with Elena Cologni at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, she co-leads the Art and Care Platform Series.

    Merel is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters on art, care ethics, and research methodology. She’s the Visual Art Section Editor at the International Journal of Education and the Arts, for which she and Elena Cologni recently co-edited a special issue on ‘Art for the Sake of Care’. In April, she will start serving as the co-editor of Visual Arts Research (VAR), a publication from the University of Illinois Press. In 2018, Merel co-edited the book Evaluation for a Caring Society, and in 2021 she co-authored the book A Paradigm of Care with Bob Stake. Merel and Bob recently submitted their manuscript for a mini-book on Researching Care with Case Studies to Routledge. Merel is currently focusing on the manuscript for Precarious Knowing, a project that recently expanded to include members of the 'Enduring' research group, and is set to be published by Springer.

    We discuss the following topics in this episode:

    The roots of Merel's interest and involvement in art and care (03:48)

    The 'Precarious Knowing' project (11:32)

    Merel's practice as an artist (11:50)

    The Meaningful Artistic Research Program (16:03)

    The Art and Care Platform Series (18:59)

    Special issue on 'Art for the Sake of Care' (20:45)

    Relational autoethnography as a commitment to care (26:35)

    Evaluation as a caring practice (30:23)

    The role of wonder, 'unknowing' and the poetic in research and care (33: 52)

    An 'aesthetic-apophatic' approach to qualitative...

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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Caring presence - with Andries Baart and Guus Timmerman
    Mar 3 2025

    What does it mean to 'practise presence' in caring for others? How did the theory of presence develop from research on everyday care practice? And what are the professional, organisational and political implications of presence theory and relational caring?

    These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Andries Baart and Guus Timmerman.

    Andries is Extraordinary Professor in the field of ageing and generational dynamics at North-West University in South Africa. He is also a former visiting professor at the Department of Psychiatry of the University Medical Centre Utrecht, and Professor Emeritus of the University of Humanistic Studies, Tilburg University, and Catholic Theological University Utrecht – all in the Netherlands. Andries has been one of the leading figures in the development of care ethics in the Netherland and in 2004, with others, he founded Stichting Presentie - the Presence Foundation.

    Guus has worked as a care ethicist and qualitative researcher at the Presence Foundation since 2014 and has published widely on relational caring and presence in healthcare and social work, and on the methodology of qualitative research. Guus has undertaken research on the care and practical wisdom of general practitioners at the sick- and death-beds of their patients; the life-world of people in Rotterdam who use the bed-bath-bread provision for irregular migrants and rejected asylum seekers; and what it is like to be a person with advanced dementia. His current research is on narrative accountability in care for older persons: giving insight to relevant interlocutors through stories.

    Andries and Guus have collaborated on a new book, Relational Caring and Presence Theory in Health Care and Social Work: a Care-Ethical Perspective, which was published in December last year by Policy Press, and which forms the main focus of our conversation in this episode.

    We discuss the following topics in this episode:

    Andries' personal and professional journey to his work in care ethics (03:45)

    Guus' personal and professional journey (09:15)

    The life, work and influence of Frans Vosman (14:20)

    The aims of Andries' and Guus' new book (19:55)

    The key elements of relational caring and presence theory (23:35)

    The origins of presence theory in Andries' study of outreach pastoral care (27:11)

    The religious inspiration and secular relevance of presence theory, and the importance of 'exposure' in practising presence (31:18)

    The theoretical roots of presence theory (34:53)

    Comparing the presence approach with Joan Tronto's five-phase caring process (43:34)

    The distinctiveness of the presence approach to care practice (50:07)

    The relationship between presence theory and care ethics (46:55)

    The organisational implications of practising presence and relational caring (52:55)

    The implications of presence theory for thinking about professionalism (55:40)

    How realistic is practising presence in the context of everyday care practice? (59:30)

    The political implications of presence theory (01:03:30)

    The work of the Presence Foundation (01:07:05)

    Andries' and Guus' current work and future plans (01:09:15)

    Writers, theorists and activists mentioned in the...

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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • A 'revolucionista' ethic of care - with Mia Sosa-Provencio
    Feb 4 2025

    How has the legacy of conquest and colonisation shaped the educational experiences of students and teachers in New Mexico? What can educators do to enable students to bring their embodied knowledge and intergenerational wisdom into educational spaces? And in what ways are (Nuevo) Mexicana educators developing a 'revolucionista' ethic of care?

    These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Mia Sosa-Provencio. Mia is an Associate Professor of Secondary Education in the Department of Teacher Education, Educational Leadership, and Policy, at the University of New Mexico. She taught Language Arts for seven years at Rio Grande High School in the South Valley of Albuquerque, before studying for a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis on Critical Pedagogies, at New Mexico State University.

    Mia has published widely in the field of critical education studies, with a number of recent articles seeking to develop a Mexicana/Mestiza Critical Feminist Ethic of Care, drawing on her research, which uses Testimonio methodology, with educators living and working along the U.S.-Mexico border.

    We discuss the following topics in this episode:

    Mia's cultural roots and the social, political and historical context of New Mexico (02:32)

    Mia's personal experience of the US education system as a child (07:55)

    The impact of Mia's experience as a high school teacher in Albuquerque (13:05)

    Mia's current work preparing teachers to practice education as social justice (15:42)

    The ways in which care is excluded from educational spaces (19:48)

    Mia's ethnographic research with Mexicana/Mestiza educators using Testimonio methodology (20:55)

    Learning from Rosa's and Diana's narratives about ways of embodying a revolucionista ethic of care (26:15)

    Towards a critical feminist ethic of care (34:12)

    Developing an 'in the flesh' ethic of care: the importance of body and land (39:11)

    The role of humour and play in creating a social justice revolución (49:17)

    Mia's ongoing work and her hopes for its impact on policy and practice (01:01:04)

    A selection of Mia's publications

    'A Revolucionista Ethic of Care: Four Mexicana Educators' Subterraneous Social Justice Revolución of Fighting and Feeding'

    'Seeking a Mexicana/Mestiza Critical Feminist Ethic of Care: Diana's Revolución of Body and Being'

    'Seeking a Mexicana/Mestiza Ethic of Care: Rosa's Revolución of carrying alongside'

    'Curriculum of the Mestiza/o Body: Living and Learning Through a Corporal Landscape of Resistance and (Re)generation'

    'Tu eres mi otro yo/You Are My Other Me: An In-The-Flesh Ethic of Care Centering Body and Emotionality as Speaking Subjects Fostering Dignity, Interconnection, and Racialized Healing'

    'Seeking a Culturally Relevant Ethic of Care for Mexican/Mexican American Youth: A Revolucionista Ethic of Care and its Wily, Tactical Mechanism of...

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • A care ethical perspective on surrogacy - with Priya Sharma
    Jan 12 2025

    What has been the impact of recent attempts to regulate surrogacy in India? How do surrogate mothers view their participation in the process? Can feminist care ethics, and specifically an understanding of care as labour, contribute to a better understanding of surrogacy? And what are the strengths and weaknesses of the radical feminist case against surrogacy?

    These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Priya Sharma. Priya recently took up a position as an Assistant Professor in the Humanities and Social Science at T A Pai Management Institute, on the Bengalaru Campus of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, in India. She has an academic background in anthropology, sociology and philosophy, and practical experience of working with a variety of social justice movements. Priya’s doctoral research at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, where she was until recently a postdoctoral fellow, developed a care ethical perspective on surrogacy regulation in India.

    Building on her doctoral work, Priya has published an article, with her supervisor Amrita Banerjee, on ‘Animating the Affect–Care–Labor Link in the Wake of “The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill”: Care Ethics and Policymaking on Indian Surrogacy’ in the journal Hypatia, and she has contributed a chapter entitled ‘Whose Ethos?: A Case of Indian Surrogacy law and its Moral Bedrock’ to the forthcoming Routledge Companion to Gender and Reproduction. Priya is also currently co-editing a volume on Technology, Mothering, and Care Ethics in the Peeters Ethics of Care series, and is a guest editor for a journal special issue on Critical Midwifery Studies.

    Please note that the sound quality of this episode is less than ideal in places, due to a poor internet connection, so listeners may wish to refer to the transcript (link below) to aid understanding.

    We discuss the following topics in this episode:

    Priya's academic background and the origins of her interest in reproductive care (02:54)

    Understanding surrogacy in the Indian context (09:50)

    The regulation of surrogacy in India (17:16)

    Priya's ethnographic research with surrogate women (22:32)

    The influence of feminist care ethics on Priya's work on reproductive care (33:29)

    The radical feminist critique of surrogacy and Priya's response (46:00)

    Priya's work with Birth Futures and the Critical Midwifery Studies Collective (56:20)

    Priya's plans for further research on surrogacy and reproductive care (01:05:09)

    Some of the writers, researchers, professionals and activists mentioned in the episode:

    Amrita Banerjee

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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Care, sacrifice, and reproductive justice - with Inge van Nistelrooij
    Dec 2 2024

    Is self-sacrifice a vital component of care for others, or does a feminist ethic of care make it problematic? Is caring something that we choose to do, or a responsibility that is given to us? And how can care ethics provide a framework for promoting reproductive justice?

    These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Inge van Nistelrooij. Inge is a care ethicist, based in the Netherlands. She currently works as a self-employed ethicist with care organisations, as a consultant for professional care practices, as an ethics educator for professional teams, and as a facilitator of ethical reflection and ethical case deliberation. She is also a part-time Associate Professor of Care Ethics at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht. Inge studied for a doctorate in Theology at the University of Tilburg with Annelies von Heijst, and her prize-winning thesis was published in book form in 1996 as Martha and Mary Revisited: Care as Ethical Perspective. Inge then spent a number of years working for religious organisations and as an ethics trainer, and also as an ethics policy advisor in care organisations, publishing in 2008 The Basic Book of Care Ethics, a book for care workers in nursing, social work, spiritual care and medical professions, a revised version of which came out in 2022. Inge went on to study for a PhD at the University of Humanistic Studies, with Frans Vosman, and her thesis was published in book form in 2014 as Sacrifice: A Care Ethical Reappraisal of Sacrifice and Self-Sacrifice. Since then, Inge has published widely in the field of care ethics, on subjects such as empathy and relationality, with a recent focus on pregnancy and childbirth. She was one of the co-editors of the 2022 collection Care Ethics, Religion and Spiritual Traditions, and she is co editor of the book Recommitting to Reproduction: Shifting Care Ethics Towards Reproductive Justice, which will be published next year. Inge's Dutch-language monograph Baarzaam: Basisboek Zorgethiek voor zwangerschap, geboortezorg en ouderschap (‘Basic book - Care ethics for pregnancy, maternity care and parenthood’) is also planned for 2025.

    We discuss the following topics in this episode:

    Inge's journey from theology to care ethics (03:16)

    The influence of Annelies van Heijst (07:33)

    Inge's work with care organisations (12:07)

    Inge's doctoral research on sacrifice and self-sacrifice in care (16:18)

    Literary representations of self-sacrifice (21:20)

    The influence of feminist theology on Inge's thinking (29:00)

    Jean-Luc Marion on givenness and responsibility (34:05)

    Paul Ricoeur on identity as narrative (40:10)

    Obstetric violence and reproductive care (42:17)

    Maternity and feminist care ethics (48:17)

    Inge's forthcoming publications on care ethics and reproductive justice (52:20)

    A selection of Inge's recent publications

    'Reimagining relationality for reproductive care: understanding obstetric violence as "separation"'

    '

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    1 hr and 2 mins