Resisting Carelessness: Adulthood and the Virtue of Care in a Neoliberal Age

This article explores the suffering caused by the dismantling of care systems in our individualistic, market-driven society. As greater levels of commodification, deregulation, and individualization shape social life and deprive people of social support, ministers and caregivers can intervene by focusing on transformation rather than conformation to neoliberal carelessness and indifference. The article offers three insights to help caregivers navigate systemic suffering: accepting despondency, lamenting the life-limiting effects of neoliberalism, and maladjusting to the apparatuses of carelessness.