Explore UCD

UCD Home >

SOC20410

Academic Year 2024/2025

Sociology and ethics of care (SOC20410)

Subject:
Sociology
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Sociology
Level:
2 (Intermediate)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Ruben Flores
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
Blended
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

The purpose of this module is to provide students with an invitation to the interdisciplinary literature on care, which offers us a perspective to analyse and constructively criticise existing social formations; envision better societies; and re-think who we are and how we relate to the world. The course will offer students the opportunity to deploy analytical categories from the sociology and ethics of care in order to deepen their understanding of such phenomena as inequality, democracy, climate change and capitalism. It will also invite students to imagine ways of making the world around them more caring.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successfully completing this course, students will be better equipped to:

Critically engage with sociological theories of care;
Link theories of care with wider debates about inequality, global warming, capitalism and democracy;
Critically assess normative claims connected to social inquiry;
Critically apply theories and concepts of care to selected case-studies;
Be able to provide constructive criticism to fellow students, and to constructively deal with criticisms to their own work;
Exhibit personal, social and communication skills needed to contribute to group projects;
Demonstrate critical writing ability to construct, support and summarise sociological and normative arguments.

Indicative Module Content:

Why care about care?
The ethics and politics of care.
Care, kinship and community.
Care and the state.
Care and the economy.
Care, feminism and patriarchy.
Care, status and class.
Care and social inequality.
Caring for the environment in an age of global warming.
Care, politics and democracy.
Care and capitalism.
Care as a social project: towards more caring societies.

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24

Autonomous Student Learning

101

Total

125


Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures;

Seminars;

Critical writing, reflective learning;

Enquiry & problem-based learning;

Peer and group work;

Case-based learning;

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Portfolio: Learning portfolio. Week 12 Graded No
50
No
Reflective Assignment: In the spirit of The Care Manifesto, this assignment invites students to imagine how we could create more caring, just, and sustainable societies taking a concrete setting as an example. Week 14, Week 15 Graded No
50
No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback will be provided on assessed coursework as individual comments published in the virtual learning environment (Brightspace), in group sessions at lectures/seminars, and/or in person during office hours as appropriate.

Please note: This is a list of key texts. Most of these titles are available as eBook through the library.

The Care Collective (2020) The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence. London: Verso.

Dowling, Emma (2021) The Care Crisis: What Caused it and How Can We End It? London: Verso.

Folbre, Nancy (2001) The invisible heart: Economics and family values. New York: New Press.

Held, Virginia (2006) The ethics of care: Personal, political, and global. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lynch, K., Baker, J., Lyons, M., Feeley, M., Hanlon, N., Walsh, J. and Cantillon, S. (2016) Affective equality: Love, care and injustice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Noddings, Nel (2002) Starting at Home: Caring and Social Policy. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Tronto, Joan C. (1996) Moral boundaries: a political argument for an ethic of care. New York: Routledge.

Tronto, Joan C. (2013). Caring Democracy: Markets, Equality, and Justice. New York: New York University Press.

Tronto, Joan C. (2015) Who Cares?: How to Reshape a Democratic Politics. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Mon 12:00 - 13:50