Swartz Leslie
Department of Psychology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa.
Med Humanit. 2012 Jun;38(1):34-7. doi: 10.1136/medhum-2011-010073. Epub 2011 Nov 21.
Informal care work is indispensible to healthcare but is often invisible. Using my own experience with carers who looked after my dying mother, I explore the submerged racial and gender politics of care work, issues which have a particular relevance in South Africa. I raise the question of whether it is possible for powerful professionals like myself to engage with care workers in ways which do not reproduce patterns of exclusion and exploitation. Telling of and thinking about 'private' stories which are intimate and visceral experiences may help us to think more clearly and more visibly about the politics of care work.
非正式护理工作对医疗保健至关重要，但往往不为人所见。通过我自己与照顾我垂死母亲的护理人员的经历，我探讨了护理工作中潜藏的种族和性别政治问题，这些问题在南非尤为相关。我提出一个问题，像我这样有影响力的专业人士是否有可能以不会重现排斥和剥削模式的方式与护理人员打交道。讲述和思考那些亲密而真切的“私人”故事，可能有助于我们更清晰、更明显地思考护理工作的政治问题。
