Inclusive in name, unequal in practice: gendered labor and the fiction of disability care in rural China

This article examines the gendered consequences of community-based disability care in rural China. Although state policies present family and community care as culturally appropriate alternatives to institutionalization, they shift the burden of long-term support to households, especially to women, without adequate public investment. Based on an analysis of care arrangements in low-resource rural settings, the article argues that this approach reinforces structural inequalities through the privatization and feminization of care labor. Community care, often framed as inclusive and empowering, results in the re-domestication of both disabled persons and their caregivers. This process contributes to deepening poverty and marginalization. The official discourse of community support conceals unequal labor relations, obscures the state’s withdrawal from responsibility, and idealizes traditional values while undermining justice and sustainability. The article calls for a reframing of care as a collective responsibility grounded in structural commitment rather than individual morality.