TY - JOUR

T1 - De-Constructing Concepts of Care.

AU - Thomas, Carol

N1 - Note: Figure 1 in this issue was incorrectly formatted by the publisher. The corrected Figure was printed in the following issue of the journal as an erratum i.e. Sociology 28 (1) 1994.

PY - 1993

Y1 - 1993

N2 - `Care' has been the focus of much sociological and policy related research in the last decade. However, a review of this research literature reveals that the concept of `care' is not uniformly defined, nor is its epistemological status clear. This paper explores the problematic nature of the concept of care in sociological research. In the first section, concepts of care characteristic of 1980s research are deconstructed and compared. This demonstrates their variable and partial character. The second section contrasts the ways in which feminist writers Hilary Graham (1991) and Clare Ungerson (1990) have recently begun to recon- ceptualise care. It is argued that these authors are working along quite different conceptual paths, and that neither reconceptualisation transcends the problem of the partiality of preceding concepts of care. In section three, a unified concept of care is introduced and the question of the theoretical status of the category `care' is addressed.

AB - `Care' has been the focus of much sociological and policy related research in the last decade. However, a review of this research literature reveals that the concept of `care' is not uniformly defined, nor is its epistemological status clear. This paper explores the problematic nature of the concept of care in sociological research. In the first section, concepts of care characteristic of 1980s research are deconstructed and compared. This demonstrates their variable and partial character. The second section contrasts the ways in which feminist writers Hilary Graham (1991) and Clare Ungerson (1990) have recently begun to recon- ceptualise care. It is argued that these authors are working along quite different conceptual paths, and that neither reconceptualisation transcends the problem of the partiality of preceding concepts of care. In section three, a unified concept of care is introduced and the question of the theoretical status of the category `care' is addressed.

KW - care • concepts • reproduction • work • women • epistemology

U2 - 10.1177/0038038593027004006

DO - 10.1177/0038038593027004006

M3 - Journal article

VL - 27

SP - 649

EP - 669

JO - Sociology

JF - Sociology

SN - 1469-8684

IS - 4

ER -