Co-Production of Care During COVID-19

Assistant Professor Hjalmar Bang Carlsen and Postdoc Jonas Toubøl have contributed to the sociological magazine Contexts with the peer-reviewed feature ‘Co-Production of Care During COVID-19’.

The article is written in collaboration with Senior Researcher Ditte Andersen and Postdoctoral Researcher Sine Kirkegaard, both from VIVE – The Danish Center for Social Science Research.

The feature explores the co-production of care that unfolded in the Scandinavian welfare state of Denmark in the weeks that followed the first Danish lockdown in March 2020 and the Danish prime ministers’ accompanying plea for ‘societal spirit’ and support from civil society and other actors.

In the article, the researchers report findings from a social media analysis, a representative population survey, and qualitative interviews that are part of their still ongoing research project on solidarity, voluntary work, and co-production of care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors conclude that research shows, on the one hand, that the pandemic revealed a widespread readiness in the Danish population to participate in the co-production of care. In this way, COVID-19 may be seen as strengthening solidarity. On the other hand, the pandemic exposed how the transferal of state-sponsored care to voluntary care reproduces gender inequalities and leaves the most vulnerable citizens without the care they need.

Read the feature in full length (open access): Co-Production of Care During COVID-19