Care and Equality

Library Journal

"In spite of the fact that most American women are in the paid workforce, we have not taken full account of what that means. We are operating as if they were still at home much of the time taking care of their families," writes Harrington in this book, which examines the collapsing care system and suggests solutions for establishing a new one. Harrington, an attorney and author (Women Lawyers, LJ 1/94), believes that women are unlikely to return home to do care work, for reasons of both economics and equality. Therefore, she says, care must be adopted as a national priority. After evaluating liberal positions on family and care issues, Harrington urges liberals to promote policies that provide meaningful support for care systems and explore new responses to the continuing collapse of those systems. This thorough and thoughtful look at the issues is strongly slanted toward liberal, government-centered solutions. An optional choice for academic political science collections.--Jill Ortner, SILS, SUNY at Buffalo Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

'Through the frayed curtain at my window, a wan glow announces the break of day. My heels hurt, my head weighs a ton, and something like a giant invisible cocoon holds my whole body prisoner.' Thus begins the remarkable testimony of Bauby, who was editor-in-chief of French 'Elle' when he was felled by a stroke in December 1995. The stroke left every inch of his body paralyzed—except for his left eyelid, which he could blink. But his mind was fully alive, capable of the whole range of thought and feeling from dry wit to sadness to tenderness, and by blinking in response to letters recited by an amanuensis, he dictated 'these bedridden travel notes' about being locked inside his body. It shows that his rich heart, too, was alive and beating, but it finally gave way in March of this year, two days after the French publication of his book.