The Feminist Ethics of Care: How to Implement it in Spain

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has dramatically demonstrated the extreme vulnerability of the human being and the importance of care within the framework of a social state. This crisis has also brought pre-existing inequalities to light, showing that it is mainly women who continue to take up the tasks of care as they have always done. Indeed, care work has always been carried out by women and this dedication has contributed to diminishing the exercise of other rights, so it is essential to take on the tasks of care by the family, society and the state in a co-responsible manner. The purpose of this work is to highlight this need and to make proposals to improve the care system. Method: The methodology used is qualitative, based on theoretical discussions, consisting of investigating the context of the feminist ethics of care and the framework of feminist economics, using the most important recent sources and proposals from a feminist perspective and epistemology. Findings: The lack of a constitutional right to care in the Spanish Constitution is affecting other rights of the caregivers, mostly women, and therefore it threatens equality. The proposal of a right to care, and the value of care as the foundation of the social state of the law, could contribute to protecting those rights, adding guarantees for the rightsholders: both those who receive care and those who provide it.