The Public Performativity of Trust.

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Health Equity
• Community-Academic Partnerships

Background:

• Establishing trust between academic medical centers and minoritized or historically marginalized communities in research is challenging.
• Common engagement strategies like advisory boards or diverse workforces may fail without addressing systemic racism.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the limitations of performative trust-building activities in research partnerships.
• To explore ethical principles and feminist bioethics perspectives for genuine trust development.

Main Methods:

• Drawing upon foundational ethical principles of trust, distrust, and trust building.
• Applying the concept of bounded justice to performative trust acts.
• Centering the works of Black and Indigenous feminist bioethicists.

Main Results:

• Well-intentioned engagement activities can become "public performativity" if systemic racism is not dismantled.
• Trust-building requires acknowledging the difficulty and complexity of societal injustices.
• Existing scholarship from marginalized feminist bioethicists offers valuable insights.

Conclusions:

• Genuine trust requires systematic approaches to dismantle racism, not just superficial engagement.
• Individuals and institutions must engage in critical reflection and apply insights for transformational change.
• Sustainable steps toward deeper trust are possible through honest acknowledgment and dedicated effort.