Four Paradigm Cases of Dependency in Care Relations

Abstract

Dependency functions as a keyword in care theory. However, care theorists have spelled out the ontological and moral ramifications of dependency in different and often conflicting ways. In this article, I argue that conceptual disputes about dependency betray a fundamental discordance among authors, rooted in the empirical premises of their arguments. Hence, although authors appear to share a vocabulary of dependency, they are not writing about quite the same phenomenon. I seek to elucidate these differences by teasing out and comparing different conceptions of dependency found in the literature. Borrowing a phrase from Eva Kittay, I trace four “paradigm cases” of dependency: the infant, the physically disabled person, the profoundly intellectually disabled person, and the refugee. These paradigm cases serve as the empirical touchstone from which theorists extract their conceptions of dependency. Each paradigm case, moreover, permits (or even implores) a particular ethical sensibility toward care. How we understand and value dependency thus seems to determine how we understand and value care, and vice versa. In this way, I contend, our normative orientation toward care might influence what sorts of dependency we see—and, by extension, which forms of dependency we fail to notice.

Degrees of Care: Success, Recognition, and Completion

“…3Related examples: Simon van der Weele offers insight into the differing ways “dependency” is used in care ethics (van der Weele 2021); Stacy Clifford Simplican explores the inherent risks in care ethics, risks due to the necessity of anticipating who the people being cared for will become (Simplican 2017); and Amy Marvin sets out to connect transgender studies with the ethics of care (Marvin 2019). …”

Thick Concepts in Social Research: What, Why, and How?

“…However, my colleagues and I soon realized it was anything but. 4 This is because we found the concept of dependency to be morally charged (Van der Weele, 2021a, 2021b): it did not merely describe particular persons, relations, or situations but also judged them in a particular way. In other words, we realized that dependency is a thick concept.…”

“…We came across one third application of DEPENDENCY in our fieldwork, this time in conversations with people with intellectual disabilities who participated in our photovoice project, as they spoke to me about life in the group home. To illustrate how they wielded the concept of DEPENDENCY, I will recount some parts of my conversation with Annemiek (see also Van der Weele, 2021a, 2021b. (Once more, I take my cues from Levering by looking at a concept's use.)…”