Political Geography of Care (Or why the Pandemic of Coronavirus Confined much of the Global North)

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to show how the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a new political geography, in some countries of the global north, related to “the government” of care spaces. This new political geography, which comes into view in homes, nursing homes and care centers themselves (hospitals), has forced a large part of the population of the global north to be confined (lockdown) generating a sort of “economic closure” and the subsequent economic collapse. Taking as a reference the case of Spain, it is stated that this new political geography of care highlights the profound contradictions existing between the spaces of productive activity and the spaces of care, mainly in relation to the care of elderly people. This article offers a brief overview of the configuration of spaces for health protection, care organization and its crisis, particularly in Spanish society. It analyzes the latest available data on the impact of COVID-19 on the health of people over 65 and it offers some conclusions that allow us to account for this new political geography.