Shadow care infrastructures as an ambivalent resource – youth navigating food insecurity through faith-based organizations in Australia

There has been substantial research on shadow care infrastructures in the context of the decline of traditional, state-based, institutional support. This paper advances this work by examining how young people (between 18 and 35 years old) interpret faith-based organizations (FBOs) as sources of food and support in contemporary Australia. Our analysis bolsters existing literature in highlighting the significance of a shadow care infrastructure of FBOs in the context of a declining food support across Australian universities. At the same time, we augment existing studies by highlighting the somewhat ambivalent ways in which students interpret their engagement with FBOs. Young people argue that FBOs provide crucial affective support but also sometimes require students to engage in boundary-drawing or ‘play acting’, often through spatialized practices. FBOs emerge as an ambivalent resource, providing key material and social support while also reinforcing certain social boundaries, an argument that might be tested with reference to future research on shadow care infrastructures.