Session Information
32 SES 08 B, Organizational Education as co-caring Practices
Symposium
Contribution
John Dewey (1951) conceptualizes democracy as a lived experience, transcending political and economic structures to shape how we interact and organize. Expanding on this, this paper introduces the concept of "democracy-as-becoming," drawing on Jacques Derrida’s ontological approach to unpredictability and emergence (Dick & Ziering Kofman, 2005). This perspective reframes democracy not as a fixed goal but as a continuous, relational process embedded in organizational practices that shape the present while informing future-oriented action. Central to this discussion is the integration of care ethics within organizational education. The Cycles of Care framework (Fisher & Tronto, 1990; Tronto, 2013, 2017) provides a structured approach to embedding democratic potentials into organizational education through the formulation of cycles: caring about, taking care of, caregiving, care receiving, and caring with. By positioning care as an inquiry-driven, embodied, and relational practice, this paper highlights its transformative potential in fostering democratic organizations capable of navigating complexity and uncertainty. Care is inherently political, shaped by power relations, societal values, and institutional structures (Mouffe, 2000, 2005). This paper adopts an intersectional lens (Collins, 1990, 2000) to critically examine how care work is racialized, gendered, and undervalued, often depoliticized within neoliberal frameworks. Drawing on feminist political theory, it argues that reclaiming care as a collective and political practice can foster inclusive, participatory, and ethical organizational structures. As Tronto (2023) asserts, care is both a moral value and a foundation for constructing just societies, offering a paradigm shift beyond market-driven individualism (Parra Jounou & Tronto, 2024). By linking care ethics with pragmatist philosophy, this paper proposes a model for caring democratic practices within organizational practices. It explores how caring inquiry that rooted in attentiveness, responsibility, and relationality can transform tensions and uncertainties into opportunities for organizational education. This approach challenges traditional models, advocating instead for participatory, care-centered practices that promote social interdependence and ethical transformation. Ultimately, this paper argues that embedding care into organizational education fosters democratic processes that are dynamic, inclusive, and future-oriented. By centering care as a political and relational practice, it contributes to broader discussions on how organizations can cultivate ethical and just futures.
References
Collins, P. H. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, conscious- ness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). Dewey, J. (1951). Democracy as a way of life. In J. Nathanson, John Dewey: The reconstruction of the democratic life (pp. 82–102). Dick, Kirby & Ziering Kofman, Directors (2005). Derrida: Screenplay and Essays on the Film. Routledge. Fisher, B., Tronto, J. (1990). Towards a Feminist Theory of Care. In E. E. Abel, & M. Nelson (Eds.), Circles of Care. State University of New York Press. Tronto, J. C. (2013). Caring Democracy: Markets, Equality and Justice. NYU Press. Tronto, J. C. (2017). There is an Alternative: Homines Curans and the Limits of Neoliberalism. International Journal of Care and Caring, 1(1), 27–43. Tronto, J. C. (2023). Can democratic caring save our planet?. Revue Philosophique de Louvain, 120(1), 21–40. https://doi.org/10.2143/RPL.120.1.3292148 Mouffe, C. (2000). The Democratic Paradox. London-New York: Verso. Mouffe, C. 2005. On the Political. Mouffe, C. (2005). On the Political. Parra Jounou, I., Tronto, J.C. Care ethics in theory and practice: Joan C. Tronto in conversation with Iris Parra Jounou. Contemp Polit Theory 23, 269–283 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-024
Update Modus of this Database
The current conference programme can be browsed in the conference management system (conftool) and, closer to the conference, in the conference app.
This database will be updated with the conference data after ECER.
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance, please use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference and the conference agenda provided in conftool.
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.