Representations and ethics around community care in Social and Solidarity Economy initiatives in Spain: elderly, childhood and household employment

Abstract

The term "care" refers to complex practices and relationships whose boundaries are not always clear or consensual, particularly when it comes to community care and when provided within the framework of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). For this reason, this article aims to identify the internal logic (implicit or explicit) of the discourses that give meaning to and structure the understanding and provision of care in three community care initiatives located in three different territories (Madrid, Seville, Gipuzkoa): two respond to vital moments with a greater demand for care (childhood and old age); the third is led by household and care workers. Through an ethnographic approach and employing a collective case study, we analyse the discourses of the participants and identify four perspectives that affect their understanding of what care means: the extended perspective that links with the proposals for the sustainability of life, the perspective of links that prioritises relationships and everyday life, the perspective of choice, associated with Person-Centred Care, and the perspective of rights that focuses on dignity in the provision of care. Finally, we analyse the tensions, risks and potential of the ethics and moralities that comprise each of these perspectives to investigate to what extent they influence the creation of collective imaginaries and practices that favour a fairer social organisation of care.