Moral obligation and negotiated commitment: building responsibility in family care in Spain

This article explores the concept of responsibility in the narratives of family carers in Spain. It is based primarily on a qualitative analysis of interviews with family carers. ‘Naturalised obligation’, a perspective grounded in moral obligation that reflects cultural mandates around gender and kinship, is contrasted with ‘negotiated obligation’, which questions the extent to which the obligation to provide care should fall on particular family members and argues for redistribution. The article concludes that in order to overcome structural inequality and ensure sustainability, it is vital to advance towards a fairer and more inclusive collective ethics of care.