Revolutionary care - with Maurice Hamington | Careful Thinking

What roles do the body and the imagination play in care? What is the relationship between care ethics and political activism? And how might a commitment to care be personally and socially transformative?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Maurice Hamington, one of the world's leading authorities on care ethics and care theory. Maurice is Professor of Philosophy, and Affiliate Faculty in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, at Portland State University in Oregon in the United States. He is the author or editor of 16 books, including the ground-breaking Embodied Care: Jane Addams, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Feminist Care Ethics (2004), Care Ethics and Political Theory, co-edited with Daniel Engster (2015), and Care Ethics and Poetry, co-written with Ce Rosenow (2019). Maurice’s most recent book, Revolutionary Care: Commitment and Ethos, was published in March 2024.

We cover the following topics in this episode:

Maurice's journey to care ethics (02:45)

Maurice's encounter with feminism (06:07)

Care, embodiment and the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (08:25)

Care as 'habit' and the development of caring masculinities (11:30)

Jane Addams and social habits of care (18:18)

Care, imagination and poetry (23:13)

Care ethics and politics (29:12)

Care ethics and religion (32:52)

'Revolutionary Care' (37:29)

The transformative potential of care (44:35)

Non-western traditions and practices of care (49:43)