Liam Shields: Fostering Attachment

Why attachment matters, and how society could be reorganised to achieve a just distribution of attachment. Attachment is a key concept in debates in developmental psychology and social work. It has recently gained philosophical attention too as a quality of human relationships. In this talk, Dr Liam Shields sets out why attachment matters for questions of justice, and argue for a more attached society, where political debates are reoriented around the value of attachment rather than GDP or subjective wellbeing. He argues that: • While attachment itself is a quality of personal relationships that are often considered outside of the public sphere, this conception of what the state and justice can be concerned with is too narrow. • Attachment relationships are some of the most important ingredients in a good life, and not only for children, but for adults as well. Dr Shields takes account of the fact that we must guard against unhealthy attachments as well as promote the healthy ones, and considers how society can be reorganised to achieve a just distribution of attachment by considering policies and actions that might support attachment in adult-child relationships, including in fostering and adoption, and adult-adult relationships. About the speaker Liam Shields is a Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Manchester. His research addresses questions of distributive justice, childhood, and family life, with a particular focus on the rights and interests of parents, children, and the many other adults involved in raising children. He is the author of Just Enough: Sufficiency as a Demand of Justice (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), and his recent work includes "Won't Somebody Please Think of the Parents?" (Ethics, 2022) and, with Stephanie Collins, "Justice and Security-based Attachment" (Journal of Moral Philosophy, 2025) and "Attachment, Security, and Relational Networks" (Journal of Value Inquiry, 2024). He is currently writing a book, Beyond the Parents: Justice in Childrearing, examining the value of childrearing relationships for adults who are often left out of philosophical and policy debates — including grandparents, foster carers, and other non-parents.