Sustainability Language

Sustainability theory & policy

Ethics of care

A moral theory centring relationships, empathy and responsibility for others, developed by Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings.

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Definition

The ethics of care is a moral theory that grounds ethical judgement in relationships, context and responsibilities of care rather than abstract universal rules. Articulated by Carol Gilligan in 'In a Different Voice' (1982) as a corrective to justice-centred moral psychology and developed philosophically by Nel Noddings, it treats attentiveness, empathy and responsiveness to concrete others as moral foundations.

References

Verywell Mind

Kohlberg critique, ethics of care vs ethics of justice

Overview

What it means

In sustainability discourse, care ethics informs ecofeminist thought, climate-ethics arguments about responsibility to vulnerable people and future generations, and critiques of purely technical or market-based environmental management. It reframes sustainability as maintaining relationships of care between humans and with the more-than-human world.

How it is used

Used in sustainability ethics, feminist environmentalism, social-work and education theory, and analyses of care work in green and just transitions.

Why it matters

It supplies a relational moral vocabulary for sustainability questions — interdependence, vulnerability and responsibility — that principle-based frames miss.

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