ABSTRACT
The “spatial contexts” in which care is provided have become an important topic of concern for the many families juggling work with caring responsibilities. The growing body of caregiving literature has traditionally either focused on co-resident care or looked at proximity of caregiver and receiver based on home location (Hoff, 2006; Lewis & Meredith, 1988; Townsend, 1957). Yet, as more families juggle work and care, and often have to commute in different directions to do so, the spatial dimensions of caregiving and work locations are increasingly complex issues to be considered. Moreover, the influence of modern telecommunications challenges the extent to which geographical proximity remains important in relation to contact, caregiving, and care receiving. Nowadays, it could be argued that political, cultural, and social boundaries can all be transcended to provide care. However, what is also evident from the literature is that the spatial nature of caregiving has been underconceptualized (Milligan, 2003). Boundaries have conventionally been drawn between private-domestic and informal spaces inhabited primarily by women, and public-market and formal spatial domains. However, a blurring of the boundaries between these dichotomous spaces (as illustrated
in chapter 2 by Mahmood and Martin-Matthews) has increasingly occurred, challenging in its wake our conceptualizations of care.
