E26: “A Crisis of Care,” the “She-cession,” and Gender Inequality in the United States with CCNY Prof. Kathlene McDonald Artwork

Rights Talk

With authoritarianism, nationalism, and xenophobia on the rise, gaping global wealth disparities, and the accelerating climate emergency, human rights appear increasingly fragile. Rights Talk is devoted to engaging contemporary challenges around the world across the human rights spectrum of civil and political rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; and solidarity rights, including to a safe and healthy environment. The podcast invites critical perspectives and questions the future of rights in the twenty-first century. __________________________________________________ Music Carefree by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3476-carefreeLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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E26: “A Crisis of Care,” the “She-cession,” and Gender Inequality in the United States with CCNY Prof. Kathlene McDonald

November 06, 2021 • CCNY Downtown

This episode focuses on the US care infrastructure and gender inequality. Dr. Kathlene McDonald—Associate Professor of Literature and Writing at CCNY's Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education (CWE)—considers the gaps in the US care system in comparative perspective, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. She examines President Biden’s Build Back Better plan and the precarious conditions of care workers and the challenges of family caregivers through an intersectional lens of gender, race/ethnicity, class, and legal status. She discusses her Labor of Care Archive (laborofcare.com)—a collection of stories from members of the CUNY community who undertake family and paid care work for ill, disabled, and elderly persons. As a scholar of US Literature, she explains how writing can serve as a method of healing and as a means of creating visibility to the grave human rights implications of US care policy and potentially as a catalyst for advocacy and change.