Welcome to the website of the network “Bioethics and Structural Injustice”
Structural injustice
as a topic of bioethics
Structural injustice is a central topic for bioethics. This is because processes of structural injustice not only have a negative impact on the health of marginalized groups of people, they also lead to disadvantages in access, availability and acceptability of healthcare services. Many questions in medical ethics are also closely related to issues of structural injustice, for example when discussing the reproductive rights of queer people, the relationship between coercion and structural racism, or ableism in the definition of wellbeing and quality of life.
The consideration of structural injustice poses major theoretical challenges. It requires an examination and refinement of existing concepts and principles of biomedical ethics, such as well-being or justice. So far, however, structural injustice and the health of marginalized social groups have not been addressed as core topics in bioethics. The DFG network “Bioethics and Structural Injustice” aims to change this. It aims to develop bioethical approaches suitable for investigating structural injustice, taking it into account when dealing with ethical questions and tackling processes of structural injustice in practice.
Intersectional & interdisciplinary
The network builds on international debates. There is growing attention being paid to how structural injustice in healthcare could be systematically taken into account. For example, what does a just distribution of resources and research findings imply under conditions of structural injustice? How can anti-discriminatory healthcare be provided? What does diversity-sensitive healthcare mean? What responsibility do different actors in the healthcare system have for addressing structural injustice?
The network operates on an interdisciplinary basis and brings together disciplines affected by medical ethical issues such as philosophy, medical ethics and history, health sciences, public health, sociology, gender studies, disability studies and postcolonial studies. It will address current bioethical issues with a particular emphasis on processes of marginalization, focusing on the relationship between structural injustice and bioethics. In doing so, the network chooses an intersectional approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of systems of oppression such as sexism, racism, classism, cis-heteronormativity and ableism. In addition, the network incorporates previously marginalized bodies of knowledge in medical and bioethics, for example from queer, crip and black bioethics.