Decolonising with imperial tools? The paradox of a global bioethics library
Read BBB’s Current Controversy on the Global Bioethics Library (GBL) led by Dev. GBL aimed to be a crowd-sourced, open-access resource to decentralise knowledge production and expand what is recognised as bioethics. However, its development highlighted tensions, as most contributions originated from the global North and reflected dominant frameworks. This reveals a paradox: the tools intended to ‘decolonise’ bioethics may be influenced by the same epistemic paradigms they seek to challenge. The GBL case study highlights the complexities of pursuing epistemic justice within institutions built on inequality. This reflection invites collaboration, critique, and rethinking the politics of decolonial efforts in global bioethics.
The accepted author manuscript of the article which has been made Open Access under the University of Bristol’s Scholarly Works Policy, can be found here.