Within traditional liberal concepts of equality, little attention has been paid to the promotion of equality in the affective domain (the domain involving care giving and receiving).  This strand of the research aims to illuminate the care dimensions of equality, drawing on and reviewing the growing body of cross-disciplinary theoretical and empirical work in relation to care and equality.

The research will provide grounded theoretical elaboration of the equality issues involved in the affective care, love and solidarity domain of life and in the relationship between this domain and the other domains of equality (respect and recognition, resources, power, and work and learning) identified in ‘Equality: From Theory to Action’.

The study involves both quantitative and qualitative research methods.  Secondary analysis of the Living in Ireland (LII) and the Poverty and Social Exclusion in Northern Ireland (PSENI) data sets supplements and contextualises the qualitative case studies of care giving and care receiving, which will be carried out in the border regions.

The research will address what it means and what it would look like to have a more egalitarian and inclusive society in terms of care, love and solidarity.

A one day conference on Equality and Care will take place on 24 June 2005 in Dundalk.