Is caring indeed establishing the very possibility to live together in a humane way? As care ethics has reflected on the presuppositions of a caring democracy it often has confronted neoliberalism, with its emphasis on the market instead of the state, as the hindrance par excellence to a caring well ordered society (e.g. Tronto,Barnes; in a different way Brugère).

The research group Critical Ethics of Care analyzes the actual state of affairs of neoliberalism in healthcare and welfare. In order to make such an analysis we have drawn of the scholarly work of German political theorist Thomas Biebricher. Neoliberalism turns out to be a phenomenon with many faces, it has associated itself with popular cultural trends like the search for autonomy, self reliance and resilience. In an interview with Frans Vosman Thomas Biebricher touches upon this actual shape of neoliberalism: it is multifaceted, not a uniform, simple ‘enemy’ as often thought. Moreover, a variety of neoliberalism, ordoliberalism, is of utmost importance to understand the political shape of the European Union.
On June 15, 2017 a book with translations in Dutch of English and German texts by Biebricher was released.