Research Associate Dr. Duncan Fisher from the ESRC Centre for Care at The University of Sheffield, UK will give a guest lecture titled "Worker organising and ‘care capital’ in the English long-term care employment context" Tuesday May 19, 2026, at 13:00-14:30 in Ruusupuisto Juho RUU D101 and online. The lecture will be commented by Dr. Lina Van Aerschot from Tampere University and chaired by Professor Teppo Kröger. The lecture is organised jointly by Interdisciplinary Doctoral School of Social Services (DocSoc360°) and the newly founded Care Research Network in Finland. Please find details below.
Topic: Worker organising and ‘care capital’ in the English long-term care employment context
Speaker: Dr. Duncan Fisher (Research Associate in the ESRC Centre for Care at The University of Sheffield, UK)
Commentator: Dr. Lina Van Aerschot (Tampere University & Care Research Network, Finland)
Chair: Professor Teppo Kröger (University of Jyväskylä, Interdisciplinary Doctoral School of Social Services)
Date and time: Tuesday 19 May, 2026 at 13:00-14.30
Venue: Juho RUU D101, Ruusupuisto Campus
Online participation: https://m3.jyu.fi/jyumv/ohjelmat/hum/yfi/muut/worker-organising-and-care-capital/live
More information: Salla Era, salla.ma.era@jyu.fi
Abstract:
In this presentation I will discuss two projects, both centred on empirical inquiry relating to frontline long-term care employment in England. The introduction will provide background on the current situation regarding this work, including details regarding workforce demographics, pay and conditions, and the policy context.
The first project I will talk about is collaborative, undertaken with Professor Liam Foster at the Centre for Care, and relating to organising and trade union activity in this employment setting. The content here will focus on our paper, recently published in the International Journal of Care and Caring, which connects care workers' orientations to the care work that they do to their attitudes towards organising. This brings together insights from literature on care workers’ motivations and orientations towards their work (Dill et al., 2016; Daly, 2023), with the expanding literature on care worker organising (Duffy, 2010; Whitfield, 2022). Empirical findings from interviews with care workers and key informants from unions show care workers’ attachments to this relational work have profound implications for their stances on organising.
In the second half of the presentation, I will introduce ideas on the concept of 'care capital'. These grew out of my doctoral research about young adults doing paid care work in north-east England, and the key finding of a trajectory of movement from being a young carer or young adult carer to pursuing the paid form of this work (Fisher, 2026). In the examples where this occurred the influence of the former on taking up the latter was clear, and this was a way to monetise skills and capabilities (capital resources) that had been developed through unpaid care (Stacey, 2011; Daly, 2023). Care capital has been used as a distinct concept before (Anttonen and Sipilä, 2007; Chou and Kröger, 2014), but not in a sustained way around a settled definition. In this section, I will elaborate on my attempts to develop the concept, and propose a future research agenda around it.
About the speaker:
Dr Duncan U Fisher is a Research Associate in the ESRC Centre for Care at The University of Sheffield, UK. His research focuses on frontline paid employment in long-term care, and on those doing this work. This has included his doctoral study of young people in paid care employment, and recent research on organising, campaigning, and union activity in this context. Duncan has published in journals including the Journal of Youth Studies, Sociology of Health and Illness, and the International Journal of Care and Caring. He is currently researching, alongside Professor Liam Foster, pension provision, awareness, and knowledge in relation to paid employment in English long-term care.
About the organisers:
The Interdisciplinary Doctoral School of Social Services (DocSoc360°) is a doctoral education network formed by seven Finnish universities and is part of an extensive national reform of doctoral education. The aim of the pilot is to strengthen social services based on research. The network connects researchers in social work, social policy, education, health sciences, administrative sciences, management, law and communications to examine social services in a multidisciplinary way and from several perspectives.
Care Research Network - founded in spring 2026 - brings together researchers studying care in its various forms from different organisations in Finland. To join our mailing list, send an email to Tiina Sihto (tiina.sihto@uef.fi) or Lina Van Aerschot (lina.vanaerschot@tuni.fi).
