GS Faculty Research Colloquium: Is a “politics of care” enough? Maternity and desire in Contemporary Spain 

Lindsey Reuben

Since the 2008 economic crisis, Spain has experienced a boom of social movements that have been fundamentally shaped by new political parties who have given ample public platforms to a feminist agenda. It is now common to hear mainstream political conversation around topics such as domestic work, domestic violence, and the reorganization of structures of care, from the right and the left. In fact, “politics of care” has become a catch phrase in many of these debates. In light of this contemporary feminist turn, I propose to critically approach the concept of “politics of care” as it has been instrumentalized by these debates in order to speak on the relationship  between life and care that move beyond their biopolitical framing. To do so, I’d like to pose the controversial question: is turning toward a new administration of care is enough? In dialogue with a recently published essay by Diana Oliver, Maternidades precarias (2022), my talk will help  imagine a culture of care while acknowledging the limits of politics in its administration.