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Social Justice Politics: Care as Democracy and Resistance

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Higher Education, Pedagogy and Social Justice

Abstract

Joan Tronto argues that democracy and social justice require the ongoing care and participation of all citizens. Similarly, “an acceptable way to allocate caring responsibilities must be fostered in a way that…achieves the goals of freedom, equality, and justice” (Tronto, Caring democracy: Markets, equality, democracy. New York: New York University Press, 2013, p. 141). This chapter explores resistance practices within the highly feminised care work arena in which workers struggle to care more fully while simultaneously fighting for decent conditions for themselves and each other. Though frequently overlooked, this resistance is a form of highly democratic, participatory care for the larger social good and for those involved in the care relationship in all its progressive forms. This chapter argues in Gramscian form that, perhaps, some of the social justice changes we seek are already happening.

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Correspondence to Donna Baines .

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Baines, D. (2019). Social Justice Politics: Care as Democracy and Resistance. In: Freebody, K., Goodwin, S., Proctor, H. (eds) Higher Education, Pedagogy and Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26484-0_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26484-0_5

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