Gender and care: New agendas in the formation and circulation of urban policies in Latin America

In this seminar series, we address the broader actors, circuits, and geographies involved in the circulation and mobility of urban models in and from Latin America. Together the seminars investigate the role of a range of actors, including experts and politicians, but also alternative actors such as those involved in urban social movements and alternative networks of “experts”, that are interwoven in policy mobility processes. In concrete terms, we will hold four seminars: Circulations of social urbanism and informal settlement upgrading: Between alternative and mainstream urban models (Mexico City, October 26th and 27th, 2023), Gender and care: New agendas in the formation and circulation of urban policies in Latin America (Bogota, March 20th and 21st, 2024), Alternative circuits and stakeholders (Buenos Aires, May 9th and 10th, 2024), and Theory and practice: Moving the conversation forward (100% virtual, June 2024).This second seminar, “Gender and care: New agendas in the formation and circulation of urban policies in Latin America,” will take place on March 20th and 21st, 2024 at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia campus in Bogota. For some time now, women’s organizations and the feminist movement have advocated for the need to build more equitable cities by including gender issues in urban planning. Within this feminist agenda, care occupies a crucial role, and different Latin American cities have started to design policies and strategies to recognize care as essential work for sustaining life and well-being while making a fundamental contribution to economic development. Care has been emerging as an urban policy domain that requires the adoption of concrete measures. However, since it is an emerging field, little is known about the political, social, and institutional processes shaping care as an urban policy domain.This seminar will create a space for reflection on care as an emerging urban policy domain within Latin American cities while exploring the larger circulation of care related policies. Specifically, the seminar will focus on the political, social, and institutional processes that have shaped care as an urban policy domain and have facilitated the circulation of these policies to other cities and contexts.The Seminar will be held in Bogota due to the city government’s ongoing implementation of the District Care System (i.e., a policy that seeks to recognize care work, redistribute care responsibility more equitably, and reduce unpaid care work for caregivers who are mainly women). The District Care System operates through The Care Blocks, which are areas that concentrate caregiving services for both caregivers and those in need of care. This policy has been gaining significant international recognition from multilateral organizations, philanthropic foundations, and other urban governments that are promoting its circulation beyond Bogota.The topics we expect to address in the seminar are:– The formation of caring cities. – The circulation of ideas and urban policies related to care. – The processes that facilitate the formulation and mobility of care-oriented policies. – The identification of actors, channels, and circuits through which care policies move. – How care policies are reshaping urban planning agendas. – The mutations, transformations, and translations that care policies are undergoing.