Care Ethics, Dependency, and Vulnerability

Vulnerability has emerged as a fruitful concept in recent political discourse. Although care theorists have sometimes framed care ethics in terms of vulnerability, they have most often oriented it around dependency. This article discusses the differences between dependency and vulnerability and argues for a reconceptualization of care ethics in terms of vulnerability. By reframing care ethics around vulnerability, care theorists can not only broaden the scope of issues that care ethics can address and clarify ambiguities in the theory but also strengthen the justification for a responsibility to care.