Care ethics, education, and democracy - with Adriana Jesenková

What insights can care ethics contribute that will help in improving the education system? How can education prepare students to be caring citizens and support the development of a 'caring democracy'? And what role should sex and relationships education play in that process?These are some of the questions we explore in this episode, with Adriana Jesenková. Adriana studied history and philosophy at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, and she is now an Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, in eastern Slovakia, where her research has explored issues of care, power, and justice in the education system and in medical practice, from the perspective of feminist care ethics.In 2016 Adriana published a monograph in Slovak on The Ethics of Care (Etika Starostlivosti) and since then has published numerous journal articles, in both Slovak and English, applying a care ethical perspective to subjects as diverse as the educational system in Slovakia, sex education, and the challenges posed by a fragmented and polarised society.I was first introduced to Adriana’s work when we both contributed to the edited collection on Care Ethics, Religion, and Spiritual Traditions, which was published by Peeters in 2022. I was also interested to see that Adriana had contributed a chapter to the 2020 volume on Care Ethics, Democratic Citizenship and the State, which was co-edited by Petr Urban, who was my guest in Episode 4 of the podcast.We discuss the following topics in this episode:Adriana's personal and professional journey to studying and teaching philosophy (02:36)Adriana's introduction to feminist care ethics and its importance for her work (09:05)The influence of Joan Tronto on Adriana's thinking (13:55)Applying care ethics to education (16:35)The recent history of Slovakia, with particular reference to education (16:45)The deficit of democratic care in the Slovak education system (25:56)Education for care (30:33)Adriana's research and writing on sex and relationships education (33:46)Sex education, the family, and the state (41:39)Caring for intergenerational relations in a time of fragmentation: the role of philosophy and literature (48:03)Adriana's current work empowering civil society in eastern Slovakia and her plans for writing a new book on care ethics for a Slovak audience (59:55)Links to some of Adriana's articles in English'Research and educational potential of feminist care ethics in sex education' (2018)'Deficit of democratic care in the educational system in Slovakia' (2020)'Gender equality as a matter of care for the "caring university"' (2021)'How to care better for intergenerational relations in the time of fragmentation' (2025)Other publications referred to in the episodeJoan Tronto, Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of CareJoan Tronto, Caring Democracy: Markets, Equality, and JusticeEtela Farkašová, Záchrana sveta podľa G. (Saving the world according to G.)Writers and thinkers mentioned in the episodeEpicurusEtela Farkašová Zuzana KiczkováMariana Szapuová Richard RortyJoan TrontoNell NoddingsVirginia HeldMargaret Urban WalkerMaurice HamingtonYou can download a transcript of this episode by following this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.