This fascinating study of women carers explores the significance of dependency work by analyzing John Rawls' influential liberal theory and two examples of public policy - welfare reform and family leave - to show how both theory and policy fail women when they miss the centrality of dependency to questions of justice. A vision of an equal society is required, one which recognizes that those who care for others require the support of the larger community.

Author Biography

Eva Kittay is Professor of Philosophy at SUNY Stony Brook. She is the co-editor of both Metaphor, Women and Moral Theory (1990), and Frames, Fields and Contrasts (1992).