Material Care Studies

Abstract

This contribution outlines the meaning of Material Care Studies in terms of thematising and researching the material aspect of nursing and care, and what new insights and findings this approach can generate. Starting from a broad definition of care – which encompasses nursing as well as the help for people of all ages, in cases of sickness, disability, psychological or physical disorder, from physical and/or psychological support, advice and care (medical or otherwise) to medical assistance in the consulting room or operating theatre – Material Care Studies seeks to focus on the material aspect, examining and investigating nursing and care on the basis of things. We outline how Material Care Studies is informed by the recent discussions on material culture in general, we define historical things of nursing as material cultural heritage, and thus subjected to the requirements expected of other “special collections”. Moreover, mainly due to the historical legacy of nursing and care, Material Care Studies can also be located in the conflictive field of the gender-sensitive approaches taken in recent debates on care. Its raison d'être as a new scientific field comes from the specifics of how people interact with one another using things in situations of nursing and care, and of the specific approaches to physicality and corporeality related to nursing and care. The establishment of Material Care Studies does justice to the aspect of materiality, as there has been very little research until now into the concrete “materialities” of nursing and care or how things shape the processes involved.