Ethics and Expertise in times of crisis
This ESRC funded research project (2023-2026) focuses on how ethics advice is provided to Governments and policy makers during times of crisis, what this means for policy decision-making and ultimately, how this influences outcomes for citizens.
Our project builds on this to map out a future for ethical knowledge making and policy advice which is fit for both crisis and ‘ordinary’ times.We will do this through 3 international cases (Australia, Germany, UK), testing existing understandings of how ethics advice is organised institutionally, mapping organisational networks, interviewing key actors, documentary analysis and witness seminars. The research findings will inform lessons for policy learning through an advisory and impact group, and developing training and resources for policy makers.
Background
Governments are not currently following their own ethical advice during times of crisis, and we want to find out why, what this means for policy decision-making and ultimately, how this influences outcomes for citizens.The Covid-19 pandemic has brought these questions to the fore. National government strategies, public debate and public health outcomes have varied substantially. We will examine the specific role of ethics advice in processes of crisis management, navigating expert knowledge, building organisational networks and policy learning in shaping these international differences, using a case study method to compare UK, Germany and Australia. How can government ethics advice be organised in the future to improve institutional capacity and agility, strategic thinking, pluralistic forms of expertise, and responsiveness to diverse publics?In October 2021, the UK’s independent Nuffield Council on Bioethics began to survey the ‘ecosystems’ of ethics advice in the UK, and leading ethicists in Germany have highlighted that key governmental lessons from the pandemic will only be learnt through considering new institutional arrangements. Australia developed an ethics framework to inform government decision-making relatively late during the pandemic. We will investigate the similarities and differences between the institutional organisation of ethics advice in these 3 cases, addressing a key gap in basic empirical and comparative research on government ethics advice.
Aims and activities
- How is ethical advice for governments is organized across different national contexts
- How are ethical dilemmas navigated by experts and publics
- What is known about how and which ethics advice is used by governments in times of crisis
- What can be learned from this to support value-based judgments in policy decision-making
Our approach
Our analysis of the cases is informed by methods from Science and Technology Studies and Political Sociology. We have developed a novel framework of criteria by which to identify and interpret a typology of international varieties in how ethical advice is organised institutionally. We will do this by mapping the organisational networks through which ethics advice is provided within the 3 national cases based on web searches and interviews with key organisations, actors and global bioethics observatories.Comparing organisational networks in the UK with those in Germany and Australia will allow us to explain the different policy processes and outcomes which stem from fragmented vs centralised, spontaneous vs organised, conservative vs experimental, principle-based vs deliberative, embedded vs independent ethics advice.
Methods
The project will produce a live archive of documentary material from bioethics advisory bodies, government advisory committee reports and parliamentary enquiries, and social media platforms. We will use discourse analysis methods to examine how ethics advisory organisations set the remit of ethics, at what moments and by what speed they respond to calls for advice, and how they interact with both science advice bodies, perceived public opinion and lobbying groups.The project will organise 3 national ethics workshops using the innovative method of witness seminars to generate historical testimony and narrative evidence on our research questions. Finally we will convene an international advisory and impact group for the duration of the project to develop key recommendations to support decision-making for policy makers.
Outputs
The project will produce a range of academic publications aimed at policy, public administration and science, technology and society researchers. We are working on a book provisionally titled Learning from Ethics and Expertise in Times of Crisis. We will also produce policy resources and are keen to hear from policy makers, civil servants and ethics advisors who want to share their experiences and shape these.
Project team
PI: Professor Jessica Pykett, Professor of Social and Political Geography, University of Birmingham
- Beatrice Dippel, Doctoral Researcher, University of Bielefeld
- Danielle Hamm, Co-Investigator, Director of Nuffield Council on Bioethics
- Professor Holger Straßheim, Co-investigator, University of Bielefeld
- Dr Inga Ulnicane, Research Fellow, University of Birmingham
- Lars Wenzel, Student Researcher, University of Bielefeld
- Dr Marija Antanaviciute, Research and Policy Fellow, University of Birmingham
- Professor Robert Lepenies, Co-investigator, Karlshochschule International University
- Dr Sarah Ball, Co-investigator, University of Melbourne
- Sophia McCully, Horizon Scanning and Foresight manager
- Tom Lingard, Project Officer
- Dr Warren Pearce, Co-investigator, Sheffield University
Advisory and Impact Board Members
Advisory and Impact Board Members
Chair: David Archard, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Queen's University Belfast and former Chair of Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Dr Jeremy Baskin, Senior Fellow, Melbourne School of Government, University of Melbourne
Professor Alena Buyx, Ethics in Medicine and Health Technologies, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich
Professor John Coggon, Chair in Law, University of Bristol & Co-I UKRI Pandemic Ethics Accelerator
Professor Paul Cairney, Politics and Public Policy, Division of History, Heritage, and Politics, University of Stirling & Fellow of the Academy of Social Science
Professor Robert Dingwall, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University & former member of JCVI and MEAG
Professor Kathryn Oliver, Evidence and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Professor Barbara Prainsack, Comparative Policy Analysis Vienna & Austrian Bioethics Commission
Professor Sujatha Raman, Director of Research, Australian National University and UNESCO Chair Holder
Dr Alistair Stark, School of Political Science and International Studies, The University of Queensland Australia
Professor Christiane Woopen, Heinrich Hertz Professor at University Bonn, Founding Director of the Center for Life Ethics
Our partners