THE POLITICS OF CARING - THE ROLE OF ACTIVISM IN PRIMARY-CARE

The role of activism in primary care practice, inquiry, and theory dev elopment is illustrated through the description of a feminist cooperat ive inquiry group's deconstruction of menarche education. The developm ent of the emancipatory inquiry method of activist nursing inquiry and its relationship with feminist process is described. The value of fem inist process in activist primary care inquiry and practice is examine d. A theory of primary caring is inductively gleaned from the research and compared to other caring theories. Connection, commitment, consis tency, change, and community are identified as being components of pri mary caring. A community perspective on primary care is advocated.