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Care Communities versus Human Infrastructure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2024

Talia Schaffer Open the ORCID record for Talia Schaffer [Opens in a new window]
Talia Schaffer*
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CUNY, New York, United States
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Abstract

Victorian assumptions about care infrastructure differed profoundly from our own. Accustomed to local care communities, Victorian writers like Charles Dickens and Samuel Richard Bosanquet resisted the advent of standardized, centralized, institutional care for the poor and sick. While they acknowledged the need for widespread help, they fought to provide care through personal charity based on intimate knowledge, not governmental edict. Comparing their care infrastructure with ours can help remind us of the risks of institutional indifference and the value of care relations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Victorian Literature and Culture , Volume 52 , Special Issue 2: Infrastructure , Summer 2024 , pp. 441 - 446
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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