Sally Haslanger: Benjamin Lecture 3 - Who Cares? Networks of Knowledge and Solidarity

In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures - and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique - a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2023, Sally Haslanger served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures took place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of June 2023 (6-8 p.m.) at the Otto Braun Saal at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.
June 16th - Who Cares? Networks of Knowledge and Solidarity
For decades, socialist feminists have insisted that an adequate account of society, and especially of capitalist societies, must involve attention to social reproduction, i.e., to “the activities and attitudes, behaviors and emotions, and responsibilities and relationships directly involved in maintaining life, on a daily basis and intergenerationally” (Brenner and Laslett 1991). One approach to social reproduction is to locate it within patriarchy, which is thought to be one of several interacting systems (others include capitalism and White supremacy). In this talk, I will argue it is better to understand our current social formation as a single (patriarchal, capitalist, White supremacist) system, but one in which there are multiple dynamics or “logics” that interact to produce distinctive forms of oppression. I will go on to discuss why this matters for developing a feminist political agenda around care work and explore the possibilities of radical social change this perspective opens up.
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