Care, emotions and public policies. Reflections from the Portuguese case

Abstract

The public policies adopted in Portugal between 2010 and 2015 to contain public debt, introduced harsh austerity measures, restricting the Social State and deeply affecting the living conditions of large sections of the population. In order to face up to this situation, people resorted to informal networks of assistance and care that transformed the lived-in experience of everyday life and produced new emotional grammars. In this essay I will analyze the intertwining relation between public policies, care and emotions. Based on fieldwork carried out in Portugal between 2012-14, I will explore the impact of austerity policies on people’s lives - on the different ways found to manage their lives, but also on their self-perception and on their everyday life experience.