Narrative Non-fiction · Hardback

The World is on Fire and We’re Writing About Our Children

Norwegian title: Verden brenner og vi skriver om våre barn

Madeleine Schultz' political care memoir is a collection of texts about becoming a mother for the second time. It’s also a political reflection around the term care and a critique of the lack of importance we put on care work in today’s society. Schultz suggests that we have built a system wherein we gain when we do not display and show off the care work. We treat care work like an endless supply that we can use and abuse until the system breaks.

As a writer Madeleine Schultz is solidly on the left-side of the political landscape and believes in a strong welfare state. Nonetheless she goes looking for private pre- and post-natal care. After a less than ideal experience when giving birth to her first child, she no longer feels safe in the public system nor does she believe they can take well enough care of her. Why do we not appreciate the care work more than we do, considering we are all dependent on it?

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