Comparative Cultures of Care:
An Interdisciplinary Project

The meaning or value of care goes well beyond the ordinary feel-good virtues and practices. Emma Dowling in The Care Crisis (2022) warns that the public care systems around the world are in crisis, when social vulnerability and profit motivations are entangled to jeopardize both the work of the carers and those whom they care for. How shall we chart the multifaceted meanings of care in a world steeped in multiple social and political crises, meanings that will tell us more about, and help us re-commit to, care education, self-care, social responsibility around care work, and the enablement of care through technology in the public and private spheres? How do we heed the authors of The Care Manifesto (2020) to put “critical interdependence” at the heart of our theorization of care? 

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The "Hong Kong 2023 Humanities Conference on Comparative Cultures of Care" stems from an eight-month long online reading course on "Theorizing Care" that began in early 2023, and endeavors to extend our consolidated discussion on care ethics and politics through a two-day conference on the campus of the Education University of Hong Kong. Speakers will be presenting drafts of their original papers for a robust dialogue with each other and with the audience. They are from Canada, UK, US, Australia, and Hong Kong.

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"Comparative Cultures of Care" is a strategic research focus of the Faculty of Humanities.

The Conference is anchored on three main themes:

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• Theory, Culture, Care 

• Environment, Technology, Care 

• Care, Pedagogy, Community

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Through this conference, we aim to form a close-knit community of scholars who will support the curiosity and innovation that drive international research.

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John Erni, Dean of Faculty of Humanities
& The Conference Organizing Team

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