For over forty years, gender studies have shown how domestic work is crucial and essential for the functioning of the economic system and for social well-being. However, care work, both in the domestic sphere and in general, has been the subject of more specific analysis in the last twenty years. One explanation for the "discovery" of care work is the tension arising from the new roles women have assumed in the labor market since the late 20th century and the increased outsourcing of care work outside the family (Carrasquer, 2013). This has also been influenced by the convergence of different schools of thought on the subject, or what has been termed "the conceptual turn in care" (Pineda, 2019), and its greater inclusion on the feminist agenda.

Although care work is currently a widely explored subject of study in the social sciences, and not only from a gender perspective, there is no single, theoretically complete and agreed-upon concept of care. Instead, there are conceptualizations and empirical studies focused on one or more of its aspects: labor, ethical, or political. Divergences exist regarding its definition, and research stems from diverse approaches, prioritizing certain aspects without encompassing the entirety of care. These differences in conceptualization are observed primarily in the emphasis placed on relational or bonding aspects in the definition, which raises questions about its connection to the concept of work (Himmelweit, 2011), the relationship between work and the ethics of care (Arango Gaviria & Molinier, 2011), the concept of dependency, and the professionalization of care (Carrasquer, 2013).

Recently, analyses and empirical research from academia on the topic of care have expanded significantly: development of new concepts such as the social organization of care, studies on the configuration of the demand and supply of care and on the configuration of care economies, research on the links between female migration and care, analyses of public policies, studies on care practices in different generations, cultural diversity and the risk of the imposition of hegemonies regarding the "ought to be" of care, surveys on social representations of care in cities (Rico and Segovia, 2017), care and social security (Martínez Franzoni, 2008; Marco, Giacometti, Pautassi and Huertas, 2019), among many others.

The emergence of the concept of social care was significant as an analytical framework for care work. British academics Daly and Lewis (2000) developed it theoretically and proposed it as a heuristic category for analyzing women's contribution to well-being. In Latin America, as well as in other continents, this approach began to be widely used and was translated as the social organization of care, similar to the well-being diamond model proposed by Razavi (2007). Following Esquivel, Faur, and Jelin (2009), the concept allows for an analysis applied to the countries of the region. Despite the significant economic, social, and political differences among the countries of the region, the concept of the social organization of care remains equally powerful.

In our region, there are no consolidated care systems, but rather incipient and uncoordinated initiatives. In other words, they do not constitute a clear offering of care provision mechanisms that could be termed a care system, as has been used in European countries and in the literature from that region. Furthermore, the few existing initiatives are segmented in their access. Moreover, the State's role as a redistributor of resources frequently perpetuates gender inequalities. Therefore, policies regarding time, money, and services are not universal, and we observe the existence of targeted policies (with varying degrees of development) lacking coordination. This segmentation means that we cannot speak of a single, monolithic care system, but rather of a social organization of care defined as a "dynamic configuration of care services provided by different institutions, and the way in which households and their members benefit from them" (Faur, 2014). It is therefore the way in which families, the State, the market and community organizations are interrelated in a changing manner to produce care (Esquivel, Faur and Jelin, 2009).

This concept allows us to interrelate the micro view (everyday relationships) and the macro view (level of the providers) proposed by Daly and Lewis (2011), so that the gender norms that associate women with care are articulated with the ways in which the State assigns responsibilities to different agents (Esquivel, 2012).

Multiple empirical studies conducted in the region (Esquivel, 2011; Salvador, 2007; Rodriguez Enriquez, 2013; Faur, 2014; Batthyány, Genta, Scavino, 2018; Puyana, Hernández, and Gutiérrez, 2020, among many others) reveal that social care organizations exhibit an unequal distribution of care responsibilities, which fall primarily on households and women, and also function as a mechanism for reproducing inequalities. These studies also demonstrate the undervaluation of care and the people who provide it, whether in homes or in community or public settings. Therefore, they show how the current economic system and national development projects depend on a free or inexpensive supply of care provided by families and women. Furthermore, the link between care and migration has been extensively studied in various regions. Thus, through conceptual elements such as global care chains (Pérez Orozco, 2010) or the circulation of care (Baldassar and Merla, 2014) the circumstances in which migrant mothers provide remote care for their children who have remained in the country of origin have been analyzed, reinforcing multiple inequalities of gender, class and ethnicity, among others.

This is the product of several factors that occur simultaneously: the persistent sexual division of labor, the dynamics of relationships and the ethics of care, the naturalization of women as caregivers, the scarce institutional development of the region's welfare regimes, and the great economic inequalities.

In this context, special mention should be made of the efforts to formulate a notion of the right to care, to give care, and to receive care. The possibility of including its recognition in national and international legislation represents a regional contribution (Pautassi, 2007; Montaño, 2010).

The changes experienced in recent years in Latin American societies regarding women's participation in the labor market, the aging process, transformations in family arrangements and cultural dynamics, and the reform processes of social protection systems have transformed care dynamics. In the last two years, the importance of care for ensuring life and well-being has become even more evident due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed the precariousness of social protection systems in the region and the extent to which care relies on households, primarily women. This prompts us to reflect on the social organization of care in changing contexts.

Furthermore, since 2010, various public responses have been implemented in the region, such as the national care systems in Uruguay and Costa Rica, and legislative reforms in several countries, particularly regarding leave policies. Bills to create care systems are currently under discussion in Argentina, Mexico, and Paraguay, among others, and the Bogotá District Care System has been launched. In this regard, it is important to analyze these experiences from a gender and right-to-care perspective to develop public policy recommendations and contribute academic knowledge to the best tools for transforming the unjust social organization of care.

At the same time, in recent years there has been a growth in the articulation of networks of social organizations (primarily women's and feminist groups) seeking to place this issue on the public agenda within a regional political context that offers opportunities with progressive governments in Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and very likely Brazil. This necessitates a virtuous collaboration between academia, civil society, the women's and feminist movement, and governments to strengthen care policies and promote comprehensive systems from a gender perspective. This is considered particularly relevant in a context where economic crises exacerbated by the pandemic have placed the care of life at the center of development and have accentuated the social equity gaps that underpin and stem from the unequal distribution of care work.

The creation in 2019 of the CLACSO Care and Gender Group allowed progress in consolidating a Latin American Network and thus promoting the exchange and deepening of comparative studies among the countries of the region. We understand that the next phase is crucial to strengthening the work of this network, whose ethical and political principles are consistent with the advocacy work being carried out in current public discussions on national care policies, which require the critical input of academia with a transformative gender perspective. This work is based on the intention to promote changes around the so-called Rs of care: Recognizing, Resignifying, and Revaluing care work; Redistributing it from a co-responsible perspective at the macro and micro levels; Remunerizing the contributions made particularly by women; and Representing the voices of the diverse groups that provide and demand care.

In general terms, the region has made significant progress in the debate on care, incorporating this issue into the political agendas of established governments and the campaigns of those vying for power on progressive platforms. However, there are heterogeneous situations regarding knowledge generation and the positioning of the issue in the public debate. While some countries have more or less stable academic units or study groups where the topic of care is part of a sustained agenda, in other countries theoretical production, knowledge dissemination, and influence in the public sphere are fragmented and more dependent on the fluctuations of international cooperation. Recognizing this diversity makes the existence of a regional working group on care and gender particularly relevant for supporting and promoting research and action processes in contexts where the topic is less established in the public debate.

The members of this group have a significant body of work and are leading figures in the theoretical development of the concept of care from a Latin American perspective, as reflected in the bibliography. They have extensive experience advising, supporting, and monitoring the implementation of various care policy initiatives in Latin America and have played a pioneering role in the discussion on comprehensive care systems with a gender focus, highlighting the role of academia in these processes and the application of knowledge in policy design. Furthermore, they contribute as academics to the training of professionals in knowledge production and action related to care.

This is why strengthening the role of regional academia through a CLACSO Working Group is important to enhance Latin America's contribution to international debates and transformative processes that place care at the heart of policy and promote the establishment of care societies. Placing care at the center of policy implies a change in governance models, in the conception of well-being, in the weighting of citizens' rights, and greater social protection for all people, particularly for those who require care and for those who provide it.