Coming soon · Book Profile
Forced to Care
The American care crisis is rooted in a long history of diverse and intersecting forms of coercion that have systematically forced women—particularly poor, minority, and immigrant women—into providing devalued and under-compensated caregiving labor.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
In "Forced to Care," sociologist Evelyn Nakano Glenn dissects America's acute "care crisis," arguing that it is not a new problem but the consequence of a social system built on coercion. The book reveals how, for centuries, American society has relied on the forced or constrained labor of women to meet its dependency needs. Glenn meticulously traces two historical threads: the creation of an unpaid, domestic caregiver role for middle-class women defined by "status obligation," and the development of a low-wage, exploited care workforce through "racialized gendered servitude" for poor, minority, and immigrant women. Through sharp analysis of marriage law, welfare policy, labor-law exclusions, and the modern impacts of neoliberalism, Glenn demonstrates that the devaluation of care is not a market failure but a deliberate, socially-engineered outcome. This book is a crucial read for anyone seeking to understand the deep-seated injustices of gender, race, and class that shape our most intimate labor and to envision a path toward a truly caring and equitable society.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- The reader is a socially conscious individual—a policymaker, activist, academic, or concerned citizen—who witnesses the strain of the 'care crisis' and seeks to understand its deep-seated causes to advocate for a more just society.
- The problem
- The demand for caregiving is skyrocketing, while the traditional system of provision is collapsing, resulting in overburdened families and an exploited, low-wage workforce. They feel frustrated and powerless, sensing a profound injustice in how society treats its most essential labor and its most vulnerable members.
- The plan
- Understand the historical roots of how care became women's coerced responsibility.
- Examine how laws and policies have legally enforced this obligation and devalued care work.
- Analyze how modern economic forces have exacerbated the crisis.
- Rethink care as a public good and a shared societal responsibility.
- The payoff
- The reader gains a clear framework to understand and articulate the root causes of the care crisis. · They are empowered to challenge prevailing ideologies and advocate for a society that justly values both caregivers and care receivers. · A truly 'caring society' is created, where care is a shared public responsibility and its burdens and benefits are distributed equitably.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- The Everyday World as Problematic: A Feminist Sociology · Dorothy E. Smith
The author explicitly identifies Smith's work as the primary methodological and theoretical foundation for his study, particularly its focus on the disjuncture between lived experience and administrative texts.
- Living and Dying at Murray Manor · Jaber F. Gubrium
Cited by the author as one of the few existing ethnographic studies of nursing home life that provided a foundation for his own work.
- Ordered to Care: The Dilemma of American Nursing, 1850-1945 · Susan M. Reverby
This book provides historical context for the professional roles and status conflicts in nursing, which helps explain the position of the nursing assistants in the story.
- Manufacturing Consent: Changes in the Labor Process under Monopoly Capitalism · Michael Burawoy
Cited as an influential participant-observation study that, like 'Making Gray Gold,' connects the daily experiences of workers on the shop floor to the broader political economy of capitalism.
- Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone · Paul Osterman and Beth Shulman
Cited by the author in the preface, this book likely provides the broader context for his argument that improving low-wage work requires industry-specific analysis and strategies.
- Caring in America: Home Health Workers in the Shadow of the Welfare State · Eileen Boris and Jennifer Klein
The author cites this work extensively to provide the historical context for why the home care aide job was created as a form of 'workfare' and has been stigmatized and excluded from labor protections.
- The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling · Arlie Russell Hochschild
This book is foundational to the concept of 'emotional labor,' a key analytical tool used in many chapters to understand the psychological and relational demands of care work.
- Caring for America: Home Health Workers in the Shadow of the Welfare State · Eileen Boris and Jennifer Klein
Provides a deep historical and policy context for home care work, a major occupation covered in the book, particularly regarding its exclusion from labor law and recent organizing efforts.
- Making Gray Gold: Narratives of Nursing Home Care · Timothy Diamond
A classic ethnographic study that reveals the day-to-day realities, constraints, and relational aspects of work for nursing assistants, a key group of workers analyzed throughout this volume.
- Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy · Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild (eds.)
This influential collection explores the global dimensions of care work, migration, and 'care chains,' providing context for this book's chapters on immigrant workers.