Careful Thinking

How can we care for others while respecting their individuality? What is meant by a cosmopolitan ethos and how might it motivate care? And can institutions really 'care'? These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Nigel Rapport, Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at St Andrews University in Scotland, founding director of the Centre for Cosmopolitan Studies, and the author of Cosmopolitan Love and Individuality: Ethical Engagement beyond Culture (Rowman and Littlefield).

We cover the following topics in this episode:

The trajectory of Nigel’s career as an anthropologist and the origins of his interest in theories of care (02:40)

The importance of creative writers and artists for Nigel’s anthropological writing (07:55)

The influence of the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas on Nigel’s thinking (11:40)

Nigel's ethnographic fieldwork with porters in a Scottish hospital (22:50)

The notion of the ‘personal preserve’ and the circumstances in which care might require inaction rather than action (30:05)

'Cosmopolitan politesse’ and its potential for transforming personal relationships and public policy (35:35)

How 'categorical thinking' and identity politics distort human individuality (41:00)

A response to criticism that a cosmopolitan ethos might be insufficient to motivate care (47:00)

The caring institution (55:00)

A personal coda on Jewish identity and Nigel’s forthcoming book on Israel and Zionism (01:00:13)

Link to Nigel’s academic profile

The University of St Andrews Centre for Cosmopolitan Studies

A selection of Nigel’s publications

The Trouble with Community: Anthropological Reflections on Movement, Identity and Collectivity (with Vered Amit) (2002)

Of Orderlies and Men: Hospital Porters Achieving Wellness at Work (2008)

‘Anthropology through Levinas: knowing the uniqueness of ego and the mystery of otherness’, Current Anthropology (2015)

Cosmopolitan Love and Individuality: Ethical Engagement beyond Culture (2018)

‘The action and inaction of care: care and the personal preserve’, The Australian Journal of Anthropology (2018)

‘The life-project of personal wellbeing: modern healthcare and the individuality of health’, in Rapport, F. and Braithwaite, J. (eds.) Transforming Healthcare with Qualitative Research (2021)

'I am Here, Abraham said': Emmanuel Levinas and Anthropological Science (forthcoming, April 2024)

Other publications mentioned in the episode

Andrew Dobson, 'Thick cosmopolitanism', Political Studies (2006)

Wendy Hollway, The Capacity to Care: Gender and Ethical Subjectivity (2007)

Alan Dershowitz, The Case for Israel (2004)

Some of the writers and thinkers discussed in the episode

Iris Murdoch

Emmanuel Levinas

Joan Tronto

Simone Weil

How can a personalist perspective contribute to a better understanding of the experience of people living with dementia? What does it mean to offer hospitality to those in need of care? And why is it important to respect the conscience, and the right to conscientious objection, of healthcare practitioners? These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Xavier Symons, a postdoctoral fellow at the Human Flourishing Program in the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, and the author of Why Conscience Matters: A Defence of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare (Routledge).

We cover the following topics in this episode:

Xavier's current work at Harvard (02:12)

Xavier's earlier academic work (05:38)

Personal and family influences on Xavier's academic journey (11:25)

A personalist perspective on dementia care (15:00)

'Reciprocating care' (22:40)

Recovering the notion of hospitality in care work (26:35)

Hospitality and disponibilité (30:10)

Hospitality and spiritual care (35:00)

Why conscience matters in healthcare (37:30)

The virtuous practitioner (40:55)

Conscientious objection and end of life care (42:00)

Other personal and philosophical influences on Xavier's thinking (49:05)

Links

Xavier's website

The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard

Plunkett Centre for Ethics

Personalism

Catholic social teaching

Xavier's publications

Why Conscience Matters: A Defence of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare (2022)

'Love to the Very End: A Theology of Dementia' (2021)

'The Hostility of Illness and the Therapeutic Importance of Hospitality' (2023)

Other publications mentioned in the episode

Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II), Love and Responsibility

Eva Feder Kittay and Ellen K Feder, The Subject of Care: Feminist Perspectives on Dependency

Gerd S Sellevold et al., 'Quality care for persons experiencing dementia: the significance of relational ethics'

Brendan Sweetman (ed.) A Gabriel Marcel Reader

Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue

O. Carter Snead, What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics

What is 'relational care' and how can it improve the day-to-day experience of carers and those they care for? What are its implications for relationships between staff and service users in care settings? And how does the concept of relational care enable us to re-imagine the role of place and space in the experience of care? These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Mary Larkin and Manik Deepak-Gopinath who recently completed a research project on the value and practice of relational care with older people.

Mary is Professor of Care, Carers and Caring at The Open University in the UK, where her research has focused on carers and caring and adult social care. She is the co-author, most recently of Family Carers and Caring, published in 2023 by Emerald. Manik is a Lecturer in Ageing, also at The Open University, and is a critical gerontologist with interests in the intersection of ageing, place and wellbeing, and in the intimate and family ties of older adults.

We cover the following topics in this episode:

Mary's background and research interests (02:35)

Manik's background and research interests (06:00)

Defining relational care (08:40)

The research project (12:45)

The relational care toolkit (19:20)

The role of place and space in relational care (21:40)

Relationships in relational care (27:15)

Spreading the word about relational care (32:40)

Relevance of relational care to other care contexts (36:35)

What's next for Mary? (38:35)

What's next for Manik? (39:30)

Mary's and Manik's key ideas and influences (41:12)

Links

Mary's Open University profile

Manik's Open University profile

Link to the research report

The Open University’s Open Learn platform

CAREN (Carer Research and Knowledge Exchange Network)

Book on relational care by Jenny Kartupelis, consultant on the research project

Care and Capitalism, book by Kathleen Lynch recommended by Manik

Wikipedia page for Doreen Massey, a key influence for Manik