ABSTRACT
Debate about social care and social justice has struggled with the relationship between the interpersonal, emotional character of caring and the concerns of social justice for a fair distribution of resources, personal help and social help, the micro and the macro. Care occurs in personal relationships, a resource that benefits only some individuals, and is therefore unjustly distributed. Society could enhance the availability of care so that it compensates for this and other injustices, through providing social services to balance inequalities. But if caring is a matter of personal relationships, how can a society compensate collectively for the absence of such relationships in the lives of individuals?
