Integrating Social Justice into Bioethics: Insights from a US-Canadian Survey of Bioethicists

Abstract: In the last decade, bioethics has made major strides in including systemic concerns in its scholarship, however, more work remains to ensure that justice concerns are fully integrated into the questions, topics, and scholarship within the field. Furthermore, questions remain about the extent to which advocacy and impact relate to the field’s mission and values. To better characterize views of social justice in the field, a survey was conducted to investigate how those in bioethics perceive social justice obligations related to their work. This paper presentation will present results of the survey, highlighting bioethicists’ sense of obligation to engage in social advocacy compared to how they indicate such responsibilities arise in their work and scholarship. In addition, the presentation will include a normative analysis, relating results of the survey to broader questions of bioethicists’ responsibilities and obligations. Based on preliminary results, the survey revealed a strong consensus among respondents, with the majority expressing the importance of integrating social justice into their field's work regularly. Moreover, a significant majority identified social justice concerns as both a personal commitment and a professional obligation. However, there was considerable diversity in the types of social justice actions deemed most crucial, ranging from writing for public audiences to engaging in whistle-blowing or civil disobedience. There is also diversity in the types of issues that bioethicists believe matter most to the field overall. Investigating this data can help us characterize areas for future research and training for the future of social justice in bioethics.

Sana Baban – Hastings Center; Jane Cooper – University of Toronto; Danielle Pacia – Hastings Centre