The gaze and visibility of the carer: a Foucauldian analysis of the discourse of informal care

Journal/Book: Sociol Health Ill. 1999; 21: 108 Cowley Rd, Oxford Ox4 1Jf, Oxon, England. Blackwell Publ Ltd. 759-777.

Abstract: Working from a Foucauldian perspective, this paper examines the discourse of informal care and addresses three questions. When was it first possible to speak of 'the informal carer'? What are the characteristics of the discourse of informal care? And, what are the conditions of the possibility of the informal carer's recognition? Following an analysis of the appearance and conceptualisation of the informal carer in policy and related discourse since the 1970s, the visibility of this figure is situated in the context of the historical transformation of the medical gaze. It is argued that two broad axes of the gaze's ongoing transformation-its devolution to 'relays' and its extension to the whole population and the 'whole person'-underpinned the shift in emphasis from care in the community to care by the community in the 1970s, and the associated development of the discourse of informal care.

Note: Article Heaton J, Univ York, Social Policy Res Unit, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, ENGLAND

Keyword(s): Foucault; medical gaze; discourse; informal care; EXPLORATION

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