Main Seminar: THE CARE POLICY IN LATIN AMERICA: Political, Economic, and Demographic Challenges

Convener(s): Belén Villegas Plá, LAC/ODID, University of Oxford

Speaker(s): Merike Blofield, GIGA and University of Hamburg; Jennifer Piscopo, Royal Holloway, University of London;  Rossella Ciccia, DSP, University of Oxford.

In the last decade, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, care policies have gained increasing relevance worldwide, particularly in Latin America. This perspective recognizes care as a fundamental social necessity that must be addressed, as well as an essential tool for promoting fairer and more equitable gender relations. Currently, several countries in the region are implementing care policies and systems that include services and programs designed to ensure that populations such as children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and those living with illnesses receive adequate care. Additionally, regulatory frameworks are being established to improve working conditions in the care economy. What are the significant advances and persistent challenges in care policies in the region? What common denominators and differences does this agenda present across the region? How is the Care Economy positioned within the current priorities of governments in Latin America?

Merike Blofield, Director of the Institute for Latin American Studies at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies and Professor of Political Science at the University of Hamburg.

Jennifer Piscopo: Director of the Gender Institute, Professor of Gender and Politics, Department of Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy, Royal Holloway University of London.

Rossella Ciccia: Associate Professor of Social Policy, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, and a Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford.

Belén Villegas Plá: Departmental Lecturer in the Political Economy of Latin America, Latin American Centre and Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.