Caring communities in senior care—municipal practices and civic initiatives in rural Hungary

Abstract In neoliberal capitalism, care has become increasingly marketised. In Europe, states have been withdrawing from their care responsibilities and outsourcing them to families, the market, and other actors. These trends also result in the transformation of what good care means and how it is provided. In Hungary, the care regime for older people follows unsupported familialistic policies. The care gap is filled by families, who are responsible for senior care—while as an alternative, a number of civic initiatives and informal solutions have emerged. This paper analyses cases of caring communities, which are interpreted as a set of dynamic relations in which the community’s role in providing care is constantly negotiated. With a focus on rural settlements, the study raises three questions: What does good care mean, and how is it achieved? Under what institutional and social conditions do the caring communities under consideration operate? What is the relation between state, market, and civil society in these communities? Three cases are presented, each from Southern Transdanubia, Hungary. The results demonstrate that community-based initiatives in rural Hungary are closely linked to local governments, with both mutually relying on each others’ resources. Yet even though the shortcomings of the existing care regime induce a growing need for civic activity and caring communities, the idea of market-based care solutions is part of the latters’ visions as well.