L’introuvable démocratie du care ? La gouvernance multiscalaire des systèmes d’aide et de soins à domicile des personnes âgées entre néo-familialisme et privatisation : les cas de Hambourg et Édimbourg

Abstract : This article relates a normative view of care inspired by Joan Tronto's concept of caring democracy to two local regimes of domiciliary care for the elderly, in Hamburg and Edinburgh. The concept of caring democracy is first situated in the context of the recent transformation of domiciliary care regimes in Europe. Its normative agenda is then broken down into a few concrete items, which allow for a qualitative assessment of innovations in local domiciliary long-term care arrangements. In Hamburg, the model of the care conference aims at addressing the issue of the lack of coherence and coordination of the policy system by fostering the participation of most stakeholders in the system. In the case of Edinburgh, the local authority has taken action to both introduce a program of rehabilitation (reablement) for elderly people and privatize the bulk of the social care municipal services. The concept of caring democracy proves useful to the extent that it enables the assessment of the trajectories of specific cases within a situated comparative context.