'The practice of care' by Luigina Mortari as a sociological jigsaw

Abstract

Anton Smol’kin – Kandidat Nauk (PhD) in Sociology, chair of department of humanities, RANEPA; research fellow, MSSES, Moscow, Russian Federation. Email: anton.smolkin@gmail.com

This review is dedicated to a critical analysis of the Italian philosopher’s Luigina Mortari concept of care. Mortari develops Heidegger’s ideas on caring as a fundamental component of human existence. This plot can act as a significant resource to explain the social, given the unprecedented scope of the necessary care for people as a biological species about each other, from maternal attention to the division of labour. According Mortari, care means satisfying those needs of the Other, who is unable to satisfy on their own. In other words this is a service, while real care can only be the satisfaction of vital needs. For a long time care as an independent concept was on the periphery of research interests and preference was given to the notion of autonomy, which was seen as more ideologically attractive. However, a person spends only part of their life in a state of autonomy, and during this autonomous period he or she usually acts as a source of care. Mortari criticises the liberal view of autonomy as a goal and key value rather than one stage of life. This opens the possibility to understand the unavailability of full autonomy, except at the cost of destroying the social. However, criticism of the liberal model of autonomy can have undesirable political consequences, such as becoming an excuse for paternalism and totalitarianism. Mortari sees an additional complexity in the informal nature of caring for the Other because of the fundamental unknowability of the latter. This imposes a radical responsibility on the caregiver. For example, being a good nurse does not mean acting strictly according to job descriptions; the necessary competencies are developed in practice due to the rethinking of cases. Mortari argues that care is devalued and is not rewarded adequately not only because it is mainly women engaged in it, but also because of the role played by care unmeasurability and informality. Idealising care as an endearing and giving action and in the criticism of Moss’s concept of gift, Mortari ignores the function of the gift in assembling the social.