Laura W. Kane is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Worcester State University and the Academic Director of the Clemente Course in the Humanities in Worcester, MA. Her research examines social phenomena such as families, states, and social media networks through a feminist lens.
Her book, The Social Family: Sociality and the Ethics of Supporting Families, argues for an inclusive definition of the family that recognizes diverse caregiving relationships and outlines distinct familial and governmental obligations based on a taxonomy of needs. In doing so, it de-emphasizes marriage, biological ties, or shared values as the basis for familial relationship in social and legal contexts. The Social Family account prioritizes families as the starting place for thinking through moral and political obligations, and advocates for state policies that support family caregiving relationships by granting rights, privileges, and protections to groups engaged in intimate, interdependent care.