A history of invisibility - the case of long-term care in Norway

Many European societies are currently paying much attention to their social care work, due to one of modern society’s biggest demographic challenges, the ageing population. However, while the importance of care work organized by the state/local authorities and later the welfare state over time has increased significantly, in particular in Nordic countries, the recognition of this work has remained low. Using the concept of invisibility to understand this low recognition,
this paper aims at tracing the history of invisibility in the case of long-term care for older and disabled people in Norway. The approach to this work comprises a critical sociological perspective. Theoretically, the article uses a combination of recognition theories and gender theories to understand the gendered care work and its recognition challenges. The paper points at three phases of invisibility: A first phase is about the absence of recognizing a need for
public organized social care until local voluntary women’s associations address these needs in society. A second phase concerns the social construction of public care work in the borders between women’s unpaid work in families and the paid care work on a labor marked. A third phase breaks the ties to women’s historically developed care competence through the rationalization and effectivization of long-term care services that in particular New Public
Management features establishes. Overall, the paper contributes to the understanding of a differentiation of invisibility related to social care work when using a historical lens. The paper will use two empirical examples to discuss concrete changes and challenges of this invisibility over time.