ABSTRACT
This chapter clarifies the relationship between care and autonomy, both in theory and practice. It considers the relationship between care and justice, and the related relationships between public and private spheres of activity and between abstract and concrete styles of thinking. The chapter examines the idea that the ethic of care supports political pacifism, and in particular the "maternal pacifism" of Sara Ruddick. It also explores social welfare programs in general and the public funding of long-term care for the elderly in particular. Perhaps because of their role as childcare givers, women have often been thought to be more peaceful than men, and "women's morality" is often associated with pacifism. Ruddick argues that maternal thinking has political implications. In particular, the logic of maternal thinking leads to pacifism. The chapter argues that the privatization of elder-care promotes a version of the ethic of care which is inconsistent with the autonomy of both its providers and its recipients.
