b. 1952
Joan Tronto is an American political theorist and feminist philosopher best known for developing a political theory of care ethics. Her landmark work *Moral Boundaries* (1993) argued that care should be understood not merely as a personal or domestic virtue but as a central political and moral practice. She has continued to expand care ethics into democratic theory, contending that how a society organizes care reveals its deepest political priorities.
Developed a comprehensive political theory of care ethics in *Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care* (1993)
Identified four phases of care (caring about, taking care of, caregiving, care-receiving) as an analytical framework
Argued that care ethics must be politicized to address systemic inequalities of race, class, and gender
Extended care ethics into democratic theory in *Caring Democracy: Markets, Equality, and Justice* (2013)
Critiqued the 'moral boundaries' that confine care to the private sphere, masking its political dimensions