Phd in PHILOSOPHY

Research: Care Ethics and Health Policies: The History of Cittadinanzattiva

Through a historical–philosophical approach, the research brings together reflections on the ethics of care and on health policy, understood as overall wellbeing to be protected across all spheres and through the direct involvement of citizens. From the 1980s onwards, care ethics emerged as a feminist critical perspective on morality and politics as traditionally conceived. This paradigm highlights a different way of thinking about subjectivities and forms of social action, rearticulating conceptions of democracy and participation. At the same time, in Italy the 1970s witnessed an important wave of bottom-up transformations that changed the way illness, scientific knowledge and medical practices were understood, as well as relationships with the environment and with institutions. The establishment of the Servizio sanitario nazionale (SSN, 1978) was one of the most significant outcomes, although a range of economic, political and social factors have contributed to its gradual weakening. Within this framework, the research focuses on the case study of Cittadinanzattiva, founded in 1978 as the Movimento Federativo Democratico. From its very beginnings, in response to the crisis of representation, the organisation promoted a complex body of theoretical reflection alongside specific social initiatives: in healthcare facilities, cities and local territories, its activities sought to politicise issues of general concern, as well as citizens’ participation and knowledge, in the protection of rights and in the shaping of health policies. By placing the case analysed in dialogue with the theoretical perspective outlined above, the research aims to contribute both to contemporary historiographical debates on health and civic organisations and to philosophical discussions on the ethics of care. In this sense, the objective is to demonstrate its value as a form of public ethics for reflecting on the governance of health, and related fields, as well as on the relationship between active citizenship and public policy.

Keywords
active citizenship; care; social and environmental determinants; feminist approaches; public policy; territorial protection and governance; health and healthcare; experts and popular knowledge.