Comparative Literature / Cultural Studies and Media Studies

Alya Ansari (University of Minnesota)

Thomas McGlone (Villanova University)

This panel uses the figuration of the state in order to probe the question of “care”—broadly defined—in the 21st century. How does the state organize the distribution of care, and who is permitted to avail of its services? How does the state involve itself in the care work that enables processes of social reproduction? And how might a stateless society reconfigure relations of solidarity and care? These questions (and others that they provoke) are particularly salient in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has necessitated an unprecedented involvement of the state in the private lives of its citizens, and transnational agitation around the Black Lives Matter movement, which has enabled the exploration of mutual aid and care networks outside of the framework of the state. In a roundtable setting, panelists will collectively interrogate how care networks function in our current conjuncture and how these networks might be created and sustained outside of and in opposition to the contemporary state. We welcome abstract submissions pertaining, but not limited to: the Marxist/socialist state, the limits of the state, the state as a site of contestation, social reproduction, citizenship, statelessness, solidarity and mutual aid, care work, the welfare state, and other historical confluences between the state and various networks of care.

This roundtable solicits short presentations using the framework of the state to probe the question of “care” broadly defined in the 21st century. We welcome submissions pertaining but not limited to the Marxist/socialist state, the limits of the state, the state as a site of contestation, social reproduction, citizenship, statelessness, solidarity and mutual aid, care work, the welfare state, and other historical confluences between the state and various networks of care.