Care Infrastructures: Critical Interpretation of and Material Response to The Social, Ethical and Political Responsibility

The covid-19 pandemic highlighted the centrality and feminization of unpaid care work, exposing deep social inequalities and the disproportionate burden placed on women. On one hand, care tasks were unevenly redistributed within households, reinforcing traditional gender roles. On the other, caregivers suffered both physical and emotional consequences. This raises a key question: How is care organized in contexts marked by cuts to social rights and the rise of conservative ideologies? This paper explores the critical intersection between an ecofemi­nist perspective and the possible horizons of care infrastructures, using the city of Córdoba, Argentina, as a case study. Prior to Javier Milei’s presidency, Argentina had made significant advances in public policies and care infrastructures—particularly in the institutional recogni­tion and redistribution of unpaid care work. However, under the ultra-liberal administration, the effects of the covid-19 pandemic have deepened, shifting the social responsibility for care work to the private sphere, thereby legitimizing and normalizing violence against women.