Care Regime

The care regime is the way in which care is institutionalized in society, how it is “perceived, located, organized and placed in relation to gainful employment” (Beckmann 2008: 73). All welfare states are based on an often implicit care regime, which not only includes the welfare and care services provided by the state, but also the services of all other actors* (cf. Lewis 1997: 10). A central focus of the research within the framework of the concept is the analysis of the significance of the patterns for the reproduction of the social disadvantages of women in comparison to men or of the opportunities for positive change. Even in the 21st century, the care regime is generally still “based on (and reproduces them), and is thus the result of the prevailing gender order and its specific embodiment in a care regime” (Beckmann 2008: 73 f.; see also Aulenbacher/Riegraf/Theobald 2014; Aulenbacher/ Dammayr/Décieux 2014; Simonazzi 2009).