Work

Are Bioethics and Environmental Ethics in the French‐Speaking World Too Western? A Reflexive and Inductive Thematic Analysis Based on French‐Language Conference Proceedings

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: We performed a meta-bioethics work based on a set of French-language conference proceedings. We aimed to assess what this material could tell us about bioethics in a French-speaking context, without making any prior assumptions. Therefore, we performed an inductive, then reflexive, thematic analysis of a sample of chapters. Overall, we inferred that most codes were not associated with, or could not reasonably be associated with, the theme of "environmental ethics," among the themes considered. This pattern seems not specific to our sample, and may raise two important and highly complex meta-bio-ethical issues, particularly with regard to Francophone Africa. These issues concern a Western cultural imprint of, first, bioethics and, second, environmental ethics, with regard to the moral status and/or interests of, respectively, the natural environment and supernatural phenomena.

Source: Developing World Bioethics

DOI: 10.1111/dewb.70067

Authors: Henri‐Corto Stoeklé, Romane Lasterie, Christian Hervé

Institutions: Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Hôpital Foch, Laboratoire de Droit des affaires et nouvelles technologies, Université Paris Cité

Language: English

Topic: Ethics and bioethics in healthcare

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,800

Funder: Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines