Here I turn to a different type of space from those considered in the previous chapter – the spaces in which social policy decisions are debated and made in the context of participatory modes of governance. Thus the relationships with which I am concerned here are those between politicians, public officials, service users and citizens as co-producers of public policy. In previous chapters I have considered the significance of care in the context of different types of interpersonal relationships, and in the context of relationships between people and certain types of environment within which they live, interact with others and work. Here I address the issue of care as a perspective from which to view social policies, and the processes by which those engaged in the development or formulation of such policies consider what might be the ‘right’ or ‘best’ position to adopt in determining their content.

The study of social policy has traditionally focused on policy processes, the changing institutions and architecture of welfare states and the analysis of policies themselves in terms of the different welfare ideologies that they embody. Thus social policy perspectives on care address issues such as the political economy of care, gender, individualism and collectivism in assigning responsibilities for care, and changing policy orientations and how they impact specific social care policies (eg Dalley, 1988; Means et al, 2002; Glendinning and Kemp, 2006). Work that engages with the lived experience of ageing, of being in poverty, of living with illness or impairment, or of being involved in caring relationships within families has tended to occupy a rather different part of the academic terrain, being located within sociology or more specifically being designated as ‘health and social care’. And issues of practice and the type of ethics most useful to the development of respectful care work are largely dealt with in the context of specific professional courses such as nursing and social work. My argument throughout this book is that these different foci need to be brought into interaction with each other as well as with the work of moral and political philosophy. This is important not only to develop policies and practices within the worlds of social and health care, but also to understand the broader significance of care in social relationships and in social policy generally.