Care work forms the foundation of every society. However, it often remains invisible and devalued, while the people who perform it are isolated and exploited. While care workers look after others, their own social security is usually precarious. Who cares for them?

The conference sheds light on the logic behind the systematic theft of care workers, which takes place on a daily basis. We will discuss the connections between transnational labour markets, social reproduction, global chains of exploitation, and embodied politics of dispossession. How is the invisibilisation and devaluation of care work related to logics of profit? Who provides care in our society – and at whose expense? What role do racialised migrant workers play in these processes? And what would happen if care work were moved to the centre of social modes of organising?

A particular focus lies in the working and living conditions of 24-hour carers and harvest workers. Both groups perform socially necessary work, providing care and preserving lives – usually under insecure and often disenfranchised conditions. In keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops and film screenings, activists from IG24 and the Sezonieri campaign as well as academics will look for strategies for solidarity-based, fairer working and living conditions.