Care and Professions in a Globalized World

Care and Professions in a Globalized World

Barcelona, Spain | November 5-7, 2009

Meeting Summary:
Under the direction of Professor Ana Marta González (University of Navarra), the Social Trends Institute held a weekend-long Experts Meeting to focus on the caring professions.  The tensions that have arisen within the practice of care in recent history have been dramatic, so much so, in fact, that they have prompted the development of an "Ethics of Care," a theory that stresses the foundational nature of relationships.  Giving a formidable challenge to modern moral approaches and the cultures that give expression to them, the ethics of care ask all persons to reconsider just how far individualism can be taken and whether or not situations of profound dependency highlight, in a special way, the pitfalls and failures of some modern sensibilities.

While the cultures of the developed world largely emphasize individual autonomy, modern developed societies are increasingly becoming marked by the escalation of situations of dependency. This phenomenon prompts an all important question for these societies, especially those with aging populations: How can we harmonize our modern self-consciousness as independent human beings with the fact that we are dependent and need to be cared for? In other words, how can we harmonize care for individuals with respect for individuals?

Speakers:

David Smith - Yale University
Carefree in Barcelona
Michael Slote - University of Miami
The Philosophical Theory Behind Caring
Eva Kittay - SUNY Stony Brook
The Completion of Care
Richard Hugman - University of New South Wales
Professionalizing Care - A Necessary Irony?
Sally Glen - University of Wolverhampton
Respect and Care in the Context of Nursing Practice: Polarized or Synergistic?
Marta Elvira - IESE Business School
The Professionalization of the Culinary Field
Marco D'Avenia - Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
Trust, Care, and Relationships: Alasdair MacIntyre and the World of Professions

Discussants:

Ann Brach - National Academy of Sciences
María Pia Chirinos - Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
Matthew B. Crawford - Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia
Paloma Durán - Complutense University, Madrid 
Pilar León Sanz - University of Navarra
William F. May - Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life at the University of Virginia
Melissa Moschella - Princeton University
Alejandro Nestor García - University of Navarra
Mercedes Pérez - University of Navarra
Julia Prats - IESE Business School
Amparo Zaragoza - University of Navarra

Moderator:

Ana Marta González - University of Navarra


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STI looks forward to presenting the resulting publication, which will contain the papers presented at the conference, as well as a few specially commissioned pieces, in late 2010.  Please e-mail info@socialtrendsinstitute.org for more information.