As part of the activities of the Philosophy of Work Network, Anca Gheaus (Central European University) will offer a presentation entitled: “One crisis to solve another? The place of care in the future of work”.

The activities of the Philosophy of Work Network are open to researchers and graduate students with research interests in this area. Please write to the organizers, Denise Celentano (denise.celentano@umontreal.ca) and Pablo Gilabert (pablo.gilabert@concordia.ca), to receive the zoom link.

Abstract

Two work-related crises are looming large: technological unemployment (possibly on mass scale) and a crisis of care (care for the elderly, healthcare, and the “loneliness epidemic”). I argue that we should think about these crises together, rather than separately, because each can provide practical and justificatory solutions to the other. On the practical side, we should aim to match the demand for care with the supply of labour freed by technological unemployment. On the justificatory side, the care crisis is relevant to the unemployment crisis because it fills in a gap in arguments to the conclusion that we should respond to automation by minimising involuntary unemployment. Reasons for the latter are: because the goods of work are important contributors to a good life; because work is integral to a good life insofar it is driven by the desire to serve others; and because, in a Dworkinian hypothetical insurance scheme, people would ensure against involuntary unemployment. If automation eliminated all necessary work, then realising some of the goods of work would be precluded, making the aspiration to serve needs unfulfillable, and providing re-training and new jobs would be very wasteful and hence unaffordable. The care crisis indicates there is, and there will always be, necessary work to be done. The unemployment crisis is relevant to the care crisis because we ought to meet emotional care needs in a politically legitimate manner. Alternative proposals are coercive, hence worrying for liberals. Moreover, coercion is corrosive to some aims of emotional care work, which is ideally motivated by caring about particular individuals.