Give yourself grace

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic research in a South African care facility, this editorial explores grace as both an analytical concept and practical resource for navigating difficult encounters in end-of-life care settings. The author demonstrates how staff and residents use grace — understood as temporary acceptance rather than moral absolution — to manage racial tensions, workplace adversity and ethical uncertainty. Grace functions as a survival strategy that enables coexistence across divides without requiring affection or approval. The piece argues that grace offers anthropologists and care practitioners a framework for understanding how people cope with structural violence and interpersonal conflict in institutional settings.