The author examines South Asian American women caregivers in two domestic violence organizations, namely Apna Ghar, the Chicago shelter for battered immigrant women, and Saheli, a support group for abuse survivors in Austin, Texas. Through informal interviews with Apna Ghar workers and Saheli volunteers and participant observation at Apna Ghar, she outlines the concept of “radical caring.” Radical caring emerges at the conjunction of individual and organizational motivations. However, radical caring is inherently contradictory; first, the caregivers’ traditional gender identities are (...) used to alter the very same gender ideologies in their racialized communities. Second, workers attempt to preserve the dignity of care receivers even as they engage in tasks that undermine their self-respect. Third, caseworkers exercise authority so that residents’ autonomy may be enhanced. The author argues that although organizations such as Apna Ghar hold the potential for social change, professionalization of shelter work along with the contradictions inherent in caregiving compromise radical caring. (shrink)

Are women (simply) adult human females? Dictionaries suggest that they are. However, philosophers who have explicitly considered the question invariably answer no. This paper argues that they are wrong. The orthodox view is that the category *woman* is a social category, like the categories *widow* and *police officer*, although exactly what this social category consists in is a matter of considerable disagreement. In any event, orthodoxy has it that *woman* is definitely not a biological category, like the categories *amphibian* or (...) *adult human female*. -/- In the first part, a number of arguments are given for the view that women are adult human females; the second part turns to rebutting the main objections. Finally, a couple of morals are briefly noted: one for activist sloganeering, and one for ameliorative projects that seek to change the meaning of ‘woman’. (shrink)