Care Talk

Daedalus and the Patriarchal Labyrinth

13 January 2020

The Winter 2020 issue of Daedalus on “Women and Equality”

Up on Down Girl

26 December 2019

On Kate Manne’s book, “Down Girl”.

Populist Prism, Patriarchal Facet

26 December 2019

Populism relies on a complex coalition based on gender, race, and citizenship, as well as class. No one has explained its racist facet in the U.S. better than Ta-Nehisi Coates. Its other facets also deserve serious attention.

What IS the Economy, Stupid

17 December 2019

A lean, bald-pated, drawling political strategist from Louisiana named James Carville helped Bill Clinton win an election in 1992 by reminding campaign staff of the importance of “the economy, stupid.”

Pinko Economics

13 December 2019

Globally, most center-right parties are labeled blue, but in the U.S. today, Republicans are red, and Democrats are blue. Why? Because the major television networks decided around 2000 to standardize their visuals that way on election night.

Quantifying Care

13 December 2019

17th International Experts Meeting on Time Use and XX International Meeting on Gender Statistics, September 10-13, 2019, in Aguascalientes, Mexico

Revaluation not Devaluation

11 August 2019

I invoke a billionaire investor to call your attention to a particularly important divergence between value and price–the low wages of care.

The Lazy Father Saga

19 June 2019

The lazy father is enshrined in popular culture. Google up the term and there he is: Homer Simpson snoring on the couch. Unfair caricature, especially on Fathers’ Day!

Cut Child Poverty by Half

8 March 2019

The United Kingdom did it between 1999 and 2008. The Canadian government implemented a plan to do it in 2016. The U.S. almost did it between 1967 and 2016: cut the incidence of child poverty by half.

The Childcare Conundrum

7 March 2019

The Warren proposal gets good marks from most progressive policy wonks. It seems edgy but possible. If implemented, would almost certainly have positive effects. So what’s not to like?

Love Among the Synths

11 February 2019

I just started watching Humans, a British television series distributed by AMC in the U.S. and Real Humans, the Swedish series on which it is approximately based. Both start out on the same theme, the use of intelligent (and, in some cases, fully conscious and emotionally adept) androids to help provide family care.

The Blood Business

11 February 2019

Because many countries don’t allow the purchase of human blood for plasma extraction, U.S. businesses find a ready market.