Colonial Geographies, Black Geographies, and Bioethics.

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Medical Sociology
• Critical Race Theory

Background:

• Structural anti-Black racism is embedded within bioethics and medicine.
• Dominant White perspectives in bioethics render Black scholars' and patients' experiences geographically invisible.
• Colonial structures perpetuate these inequities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To illuminate anti-Black racist structures in bioethics and medicine.
• To apply Katherine McKittrick's concepts of Black geographies to healthcare and bioethical discourse.
• To advocate for a more inclusive bioethical framework.

Main Methods:

• Engaging with Katherine McKittrick's "Demonic Grounds: Black Women and the Cartographies of Struggle."
• Applying concepts of Black geographies to physical healthcare spaces (hospitals, ICUs, birthing rooms).
• Analyzing the discursive space of bioethics journals and texts.

Main Results:

• Bioethics and medicine perpetuate anti-Black racism by marginalizing Black subjectivities and experiences.
• Healthcare settings and bioethical literature often obscure or ignore the unique geographies of Black individuals.
• Current frameworks fail to acknowledge or incorporate the spatial realities of Black people.

Conclusions:

• Bioethics must dismantle colonial structures that create "ungeographic" spaces for Black individuals.
• Integrating Black geographies is crucial for understanding and addressing racism in healthcare.
• Bioethics needs to develop the capacity to simultaneously hold multiple, diverse geographies.