How relations with lab animals can inform understandings of care | Coffee break research at LSE

The ‘‘crisis of care’’ is often understood as an economic and political issue in which the work of caring for others has been devalued. However, this lens can overlook the experiences of those involved in care work. Can observing the treatment of rats and mice in biomedical science offer another understanding of care?

Drawing on ethnographic research into laboratory animals and those who look after them, Dr Carrie Friese’s new book, A Mouse in a Cage, proposes a different way of viewing, and valuing, care work.

The ‘‘crisis of care’’ is often understood as an economic and political issue in which the work of caring for others has been devalued. However, this lens can overlook the experiences of those involved in care work. Can observing the treatment of rats and mice in biomedical science offer another understanding of care?

Drawing on ethnographic research into laboratory animals and those who look after them, Dr Carrie Friese’s new book, A Mouse in a Cage, proposes a different way of viewing, and valuing, care work.