Abstract

This chapter presents three proposals from a feminist approach that makes caregiving a conceptual and political benchmark and contribute to professional reflection on community social work practices. Firstly, the notion of community weavings is used to understand the community and raise awareness of the often-undervalued everyday connections that are based on reciprocity and that are not usually considered constitutive elements of the community. Secondly, the primary aim of these community weavings is caregiving and sustaining material and symbolic life for community members. This perspective examines households within the solidarity-based relationship network and identifies the potential synergies between domestic and community spaces. Finally, the third interpellation emphasizes the leading role of women in sustaining the community sphere, as well as their overburdened workload and the undermining of their overall well-being that usually results. These three lines of reflection contribute to a complex approach to a community that recognizes its resources and potential. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Carolyn Noble, Shahana Rasool, Linda Harms-Smith, Gianinna Muñoz-Arce and Donna Baines; individual chapters, the contributors.