Constructing legality: theorizing work and the challenges for mobilization of home care workers

Abstract

Aides providing long-term care in home- and community-based settings in the US experience low wages and poor conditions. Worker advocates seek to improve care jobs through policy change, a multifaceted endeavour given the complexity of health and labour policies in a federal system. This theoretical overview draws on labour process theory to delineate domains of work and legal consciousness theory to highlight challenges related to ‘sources of authority’ governing each domain. For the context of publicly funded care provided through agencies, we identify aide actions related to these sources that could support rights claiming and suggest research to inform policy improvements.