Love Care and Solidarity in the Changing Context of Education

Abstract

Love, care and solidarity are at the heart of humanity. They are evident in and through the bonds of interdependency which are key in human development, learning relationships and educational encounters. This paper explores the care implications of the changing political, economic and cultural context of Irish higher education in recent decades. Lynch (2010) and Lynch et al. (2015) argue that a longstanding culture of carelessness in education, grounded in Cartesian rationalism and Western scientific knowledge, has been exacerbated by the rise of neoliberalism in an increasingly volatile context of global capitalism.  This paper explores the implications for learners and educators in terms of the politics of the caring roles we occupy, our relationships with colleagues and learners, how we are positioned in the organisational structures of higher education and the broader implications for how we know and care about our world.