Paper Short Abstract:

Social movements practice care to produce unmediated political change. Yet, differing temporal understandings of care shape diverse temporal orientations—mutualistic or prefigurative—within direct action. This ethnographic study contributes to theorizing the intersection of care, time, and politics.

Paper Abstract:

Care is arguably the keyword of this decade, both for its absence and its promises. Social movements play a crucial role in making care instigate change, as they embody it through prefigurative politics, mutual aid, and direct action, among other practices. However, these concepts often pose analytical challenges due to constant overlap in the literature. Can taking care as a fundamental lens provide insights into these phenomena? This study draws on nearly two years of ethnographic fieldwork in two urban commons in Naples and Barcelona. These settings are compared using the prism of temporalities inherent in their politics of care. The analysis reveals that the conceptualization and practice of care in relation to the past, present, and future contribute to understanding the political orientations of these movements. Specifically, care is shown to be either mutualistic (more present-oriented) or prefigurative (more future-oriented) in its role within direct action. In summary, social movements employ care as a means to effect unmediated political change through direct action. However, the intertwining of care with different temporal understandings shapes distinct political logics. This clarification helps illuminate conceptual differences and commonalities between care politics, direct action, mutual aid, and prefiguration, hence contributing to theorize the political effects of care in relation to time.