The Coercive Edge of Kindness: A Critical Analysis of 'Random Acts' in Nursing
Date
Authors
Jackson, Debra
Bond, Carmel
McCormack, Brendan
Watson, Adrianna
Wilson, Denise
Cleary, Michelle
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
Kindness is frequently framed as an unassailable virtue, celebrated across social, professional and political domains as a simple and uncomplicated good. It is rarely problematised, and its assumed benefits are seldom interrogated, leaving kindness largely positioned as a self-evident moral imperative. In this paper, we adopt a Foucauldian lens, not to seek an essential definition of kindness, but to consider how it circulates and operates discursively, what effects it produces and what is surrendered in its performance. We position kindness as a discourse that does not merely encourage compassion or generosity but also regulate behaviour, shapes subjectivities and establishes boundaries around what may or may not be said. Through such mechanisms, the imperative to 'be kind' can act to silence resistance, temper critique and foster compliance, functioning as a subtle technology of governance. By problematising kindness in this way, we reveal how a practice so often presented as wholly benevolent can also operate as a powerful disciplinary force. We suggest that alternatives to the disciplinary framing of kindness may be found within First Nations knowledge systems, which offer different ways of understanding generosity and care beyond Western institutional logics. Our purpose is not to argue for the abandonment of kindness, but to highlight that it should not be accepted uncritically; its operations and consequences must be understood in order for it to be engaged ethically and politically.Description
Keywords
critical analysis, cultural perspectives, discourse, kindness, 1110 Nursing, Nursing, 4204 Midwifery, 4205 Nursing
Source
Nurs Inq, ISSN: 1320-7881 (Print); 1440-1800 (Online), Wiley, 33(1), e70082-. doi: 10.1111/nin.70082
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© 2026 The Author(s). Nursing Inquiry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.