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Democratizing Caring Labor: The Promise of Community-Based, Worker-Owned Childcare Cooperatives

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Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work

Published online on

Abstract

How and in what ways might we respond to the mounting "care deficit," such that the dignity and well-being of both recipient and care provider are prioritized? This article takes up such a question by making use of feminist theories of care to recenter caring discourse away from neoliberal notions of autonomy and self-sufficiency and toward those of interdependence and social connectedness. In doing so, we interrogate the appropriateness—or not—of caring labor being delivered within the market by presenting a case study, detailing the promise of community-based, worker-owned cooperatives as a means through which to democratize caring labor.