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Care at the End of the World
Dreaming of Infrastructure in Crip-of-Color Writing
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2025
About this book
In Care at the End of the World, Jina B. Kim develops what she calls crip-of-color critique, bringing a disability lens to bear on feminist- and queer-of-color literature in the aftermath of 1996 US welfare reform and the subsequent evisceration of social safety nets. She examines literature by contemporary feminist, queer, and disabled writers of color such as Jesmyn Ward, Octavia Butler, Karen Tei Yamashita, Samuel Delany, and Aurora Levins Morales, who each bring disability and dependency to the forefront of their literary freedom dreaming. Kim shows that in their writing, liberation does not take the shape of the unfettered individual or hinge on achieving independence. Instead, liberation emerges by recuperating dependency, cultivating radical interdependency, and recognizing the numerous support systems upon which survival depends. At the same time, Kim demonstrates how theories and narratives of disability can intervene into state-authored myths of resource parasitism, such as the welfare queen. In so doing, she highlights the alternate structures of care these writers envision and their dreams of life organized around reciprocity and mutual support.
Author / Editor information
Jina B. Kim is Assistant Professor of English and the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Smith College.
Reviews
"Care at the End of the World is a dream. Jina B. Kim’s work expands the possibilities of disability studies in exciting and much-needed ways while at the same time providing new points of entry into the field for scholars of race, gender, sexuality, and class. Kim weaves literary analysis with history, theory, politics, and lived experience in ways that encourage readers to make connections between systems of oppression and to imagine better futures for us all."
-- Sami Schalk, author of Black Disability Politics
-- Sami Schalk, author of Black Disability Politics
"Jina B. Kim has produced a beautifully written book that demonstrates how theorizing from the generative spaces of the margin is productive and necessary for liberation. Throughout this book, Kim brilliantly leads us on a journey exploring literary texts that demonstrate the transformative and revolutionary potential of radical interdependency. This book is a must-read for all those looking for new and innovative approaches to concepts like disability, infrastructure, care, and freedom."
-- Cathy J. Cohen, author of The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics
-- Cathy J. Cohen, author of The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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Acknowledgments
ix -
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INTRODUCTION
1 -
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1 CRIPPING THE WELFARE QUEEN
27 -
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2 REFUSE WORK
59 -
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3 LINES OF TRANSIT, MIGRATION, MOBILITY
92 -
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4 CARE AT THE END OF THE WORLD
129 -
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EPILOGUE
157 -
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Notes
165 -
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Bibliography
187 -
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Index
203
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
March 25, 2025
eBook ISBN:
9781478060697
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781478060697
Keywords for this book
Disability; feminism; queer-of-color; American literature; welfare; infrastructure; Black feminism; Samuel Delany; Octavia Butler; globalization; Karen Tei Yamashita; disability justice; Affordable Care Act; Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha; Aurora Levins Morales; Alexander Chee
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
