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The unprecedented disruption created by the ongoing pandemic has had a transformational impact on our personal, professional and working lives. At present, we are living and working under unfamiliar and, in many cases, even more precarious conditions.
Amidst the challenges of coping and adapting to the present changes, heightened insecurities and uncertainties are met with an increasing demand for caring and supporting different communities (e.g. family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, peers, students) and doing so in diverse ways. Diverse narratives co-exist in the middle of the crisis; for instance, whilst many struggle with existential fear for both the present and the future, political discourse has placed attention on keeping the economy going, with narratives about "going back to business as usual" and "adjusting to the new normal". There are important implications for these narratives; in particular how the crisis has increased and reinforced inequalities that were central to the "old normal". For example, this crisis has profound gendered and racialised impacts as women and minorities continue to carry most of the burden created by disruption linked to the crisis.
Against this backdrop, we want to reflect on the ethics of care in times of crisis from a feminist perspective. What are the key aspects of the ethics of care in times of crisis? With this webinar, we are looking to develop a space of critical reflection and constructive discussion about our responsibility to ourselves and others.
Some of the questions we want to address in this webinar are:
- What would a care-based approach to life and work look like in a time like this?
- What values should we be promoting in our exchanges and interactions with others and how?
- How can we deal with the tensions, e.g. between the individual freedom and societal responsibilities?
- How do we navigate self-care and care for those who are vulnerable?
- What strategies can/should we develop?
- What challenges does this crisis pose to solidarity? Are there limits to solidarity in times of crisis? If so, how can we overcome them?
- What kind of questions do we need to ask and answer to ensure that personal, political and global dialogues consider ongoing inequalities and develop strategies to mitigate them?
Panelists
- Professor Yvonne Benschop, Radboud University, Netherlands
- Professor Carol Gilligan, New York University, USA
- Professor Marianna Fotaki, Warwick University, United Kingdom
- Professor Stella Nkomo, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Chairs
- Dr Elisabeth Anna Guenther, Institute for Gender and Diversity in Organizations, WU Vienna, Austria
- Dr Jenny K Rodriguez, Work & Equalities Institute, Alliance Manchester Business School, United Kingdom
This event is jointly organised by:
Gender in Management Special Interest Group of the British Academy of Management
The University of Manchester’s Work & Equalities Institute
The Institute for Gender and Diversity in Organizations at WU Vienna