Description: Since the earliest days of the pandemic, care work has been thrust into the national spotlight. The notion of care seems simple enough. Care is about nurturing, feeding, nursing, assisting, and loving human beings. It is "the work that makes all other work possible." But as historian Premilla Nadasen argues, we have only begun to understand the massive role it plays in our lives and our economy.
Nadasen traces the rise of the care economy, from its roots in slavery, where there was no clear division between production and social reproduction, to the present care crisis, experienced acutely by more and more Americans. Today's care economy, Nadasen shows, is an institutionalized, hierarchical system in which some people's pain translates into other people's profit. Yet this is also a story of resistance. Low-wage workers, immigrants, and women of color in movements from Wages for Housework and Welfare Rights to the Movement for Black Lives have continued to fight for and practice collective care. These groups help us envision how, given the challenges before us, we can create a caring world as part of a radical future.Brief description: Sanya Simmons is an Atlanta-based Black Latina female audiobook narrator. She's a member of SAG-AFTRA, PANA, and APA, and she serves on the DEI Committee of APA. Sanya's alto voice is warm, grounded, friendly, credible, and authentic. Conversational first person POV is Sanya's forte. She enjoys romance (including erotica), cozy mystery, memoir, true crime and crime fiction, thriller, and YA genres. Nonfiction topics that are sure to catch her interest are those involving African American history and current issues, social justice, inclusivity (especially Black, LGBTQIA+, and disability), mental health, and spirituality. Sanya is also a musician and the author of A Single Mom's Guide to Raising Black (Gentle) Men.