Rethinking exit and voice in the crisis of care - collective repertoires among welfare workers in Sweden

In this chapter, analytical attention is brought to collective mobilisation among feminised occupational and professional groups in the Swedish welfare sector. Based on empirical data from one strategically chosen social media site on Facebook, the chapter presents an ideal-type model of how collective voice is undertaken by staff in the health care sector in Sweden. The key arguments are, first, that the theory of exit, voice and loyalty can be fruitfully elaborated on by adopting a processual approach towards contentious actions. Second, that a feminist theoretical lens, drawing on previous research on nurse’s militancy, deepens our analyses of the gendered relations of power that trigger and shape the collective mobilisation that is undertaken by care workers in the neoliberal society. The three forms of doing voice are collective whistleblowing,local protest actionsand revolts, and the results show how these are used to politicise caring in contemporary Sweden.