The focus of this perspective is on RELATIONSHIPS, POWER, and on understanding the STRUCTURES underlying situations. Ethicists using this perspective might examine these aspects of an issue:
- Vulnerable Populations
Who makes up the most vulnerable populations? Ethical analysis should focus on these populations, because how they are treated in a society reflects the morals of that society.
- Importance of Experience
- What are the personal and collective experiences of the individual considered?
- Knowledge that comes from experience is valuable
- Underlying Structure
- What is the underlying structure of the situation? (Looking at the structure gets us away from labeling ‘good’ or ‘bad’ people.)
- How does the structure drive certain aspects of the situation? Is the structure itself oppressive?
- What is being ignored? Is my attention being distracted? Should I be suspicious?
- Who benefits? At whose expense? What is being left out?
- Relationships
- What are the qualities of the relationships?
- ‘Right-relationships’ honor the dignity of human beings and
are based on mutual benefit instead of domination
Contributions- Provides a balance to principle-based approaches
- Provides context
Challenges- Power structures are not always evident
- Lacks rules or principles that are easy to apply
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