Young people – citizens in times of climate change? A childist approach to human responsibility

The matters of climate change are presently of concern existentially and ethically to the children and the youth. Worldwide school strikes in 2018–2019 and the Fridays for Future movement demonstrate how the young citizens assume socio-political responsibility. However, what possibilities do children and young people actually have to influence global discourse? Are adequate thought structures in place for them to be taken seriously in matters of concern to them? Given that children and youth engage with the issues of climate change, with a concern for their own future and that of our planet, the aim of this article was to take a child-centred ethical perspective and to theoretically explore conditions for intentional inclusion of children and their ethical concerns. In such a critical exploration, aspects of identity politics and intersectionality are reviewed. Empirical results from an interview study with children aged between 10 to 12 years are presented demonstrating that climate changes are of existential and ethical importance to them. Thereafter, a ‘childist’ perspective is introduced and discussed. The interviews were carried out during 2019 in eight schools in South Africa and Sweden. The children were individually interviewed with a method allowing for open responses. The schools in both countries were located in areas where a lack of water had been experienced. In this article, a theoretical framework is developed based on the ethical recognition of a commonly shared human responsibility and using the concept of ‘empowered inclusion’. It recognises children in their own right and identifies vulnerability and interdependence as being foundational to human existence

Peri-operative red blood cell transfusion in neonates and infants: NEonate and Children audiT of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe: A prospective European multicentre observational study

BACKGROUND: Little is known about current clinical practice concerning peri-operative red blood cell transfusion in neonates and small infants. Guidelines suggest transfusions based on haemoglobin thresholds ranging from 8.5 to 12 g dl-1, distinguishing between children from birth to day 7 (week 1), from day 8 to day 14 (week 2) or from day 15 (≥week 3) onwards. OBJECTIVE: To observe peri-operative red blood cell transfusion practice according to guidelines in relation to patient outcome. DESIGN: A multicentre observational study. SETTING: The NEonate-Children sTudy of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe (NECTARINE) trial recruited patients up to 60 weeks' postmenstrual age undergoing anaesthesia for surgical or diagnostic procedures from 165 centres in 31 European countries between March 2016 and January 2017. PATIENTS: The data included 5609 patients undergoing 6542 procedures. Inclusion criteria was a peri-operative red blood cell transfusion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary endpoint was the haemoglobin level triggering a transfusion for neonates in week 1, week 2 and week 3. Secondary endpoints were transfusion volumes, 'delta haemoglobin' (preprocedure - transfusion-triggering) and 30-day and 90-day morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: Peri-operative red blood cell transfusions were recorded during 447 procedures (6.9%). The median haemoglobin levels triggering a transfusion were 9.6 [IQR 8.7 to 10.9] g dl-1 for neonates in week 1, 9.6 [7.7 to 10.4] g dl-1 in week 2 and 8.0 [7.3 to 9.0] g dl-1 in week 3. The median transfusion volume was 17.1 [11.1 to 26.4] ml kg-1 with a median delta haemoglobin of 1.8 [0.0 to 3.6] g dl-1. Thirty-day morbidity was 47.8% with an overall mortality of 11.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate lower transfusion-triggering haemoglobin thresholds in clinical practice than suggested by current guidelines. The high morbidity and mortality of this NECTARINE sub-cohort calls for investigative action and evidence-based guidelines addressing peri-operative red blood cell transfusions strategies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT02350348

Först när vi får ansikten: Ett flerkulturellt samtal om feminism, etik och teologi.

In this thesis in ethics I study and analyze feminist theological texts from 1988–1997 by Katie G. Cannon, Chung Hyun Kyung and Mary C. Grey. A culturally diverse conversation is constructed, in which womanist issues, Asian women’s concerns, and feminist critique of the Western European philosophical and theological traditions are brought into dialogue with a Swedish context. The theories used are drawn also from the works by Donna J. Haraway, Iris M. Young and Seyla Benhabib. My analysis centers around four concepts: oppression, moral agency, ethical knowledge and vision. In addition to explicating the conceptual understanding of and theories behind these four concepts, my analysis focuses concretely on what oppression is, who the actual moral agents are, and what ethical knowledge and vision are deemed necessary for them to resist their oppression according to the texts of Cannon, Chung and Grey. ”Women’s experiences” and ”epistemological privilege,” two crucial concepts within feminist theory, are also reviewed, discussed, and conceptually developed. The overall feminist discussion in the thesis is directed towards what constitutes a multiculturally open feminism. However manifested in different forms, Cannon, Chung and Grey agree that oppression is exerted through unequal relationships – personally, societally, internationally, and ecologically. Resisting oppression in various ways gives dignity back to those oppressed and challenges the inequalities of power. The authors also describe how oppression limits the freedom of acting for those subordinated in unequal relationships. Furthermore, differences like sex/gender, race or class can be used in detracting value and withholding of rights. Vision and values, different from those confirming status quo, are crucial to resist oppression. In concluding the thesis I discuss (among others) how the studied concepts reflect historic and cultural differences but also express commonalities across cultural boundaries, as well as how justice can be seen as processes of restoration

Ethics in compulsory education – Human dignity, rights and social justice in five contexts

What children learn through their ethics and values education in school is of crucial societal relevance and is directed by school curricula. As curricula vary between countries, an international comparison is of interest. The aim of this study was to compare curricula to reveal variations in how matters of social justice were described in curricular texts, with a special focus on class, gender and race. Curricula from five different contexts were compared: Namibia; South Africa; California State, United states of America; Province of Québec, Canada; and Sweden. This provided the study, originating in Sweden, with crucial comparative material from outside Europe. The studied curricula were systematically searched for the importance and significance of the terms 'poverty/ poor', 'gender', 'equity', 'equality', 'justice', 'race', 'racism', 'human dignity/rights', 'equal value' and Ubuntu. Methodologically, this represented a qualitative content analysis approach with a research interest in intersectionality, that is, in how matters of class, gender and race intersect. The study showed considerable variation between the curricular formulations from the five contexts. For example, texts from California and Québec emphasised equality as a general matter and less as one of intersectionality, compared to Namibia and South Africa as well as Sweden. In general, human rights were emphasised, but human dignity less so. For future curricular development towards education as a global common good, matters of social justice, including sustainability, need critical monitoring. The aspects of intersectionality such as class, gender and race are thus crucial, as is the inclusion of an integrated, participatory view on students’ ethical competence.Corrected version, errata included.What may be learnt in ethics? Varieties of conceptions of ethical competence to be taught in compulsory schoo

Introduction

First edition, printed version 2003Second [unchanged] edition, electronic version 2018</p

Introduction

First edition, printed version 2003Second edition, electronic version 2018</p

Value conflicts and faith based schools : in contemporary Sweden

This article identifies value conflicts in debate regarding Swedish faith based schools 2010– 2012 explored against the background of a study by Gerle (1999). As the policy changes of the Swedish school system from the 1990s form the preconditions for contemporary faith based schools those changes are outlined. The results show that the value conflicts observed by Gerle can still be noted e.g. the wish to freedom of religion in educating children into one’s own religion, as well as the conflict of the right of parents vs. the rights of children in education. A new value conflicts is the ending of school ceremonies of municipal schools in churches and the role of religion in them. Does this mirror a shift in the influence of a Lutheran majority culture? Another surfacing value conflict is whether the making of profit in the school sector is acceptable or not

Women's Human Rights in Sweden : a Feminist Ethical Perspective

First edition, printed version 2003Second [unchanged] edition, electronic version 2018</p

Women’s Human Rights in Sweden : a Feminist Ethical Perspective

First edition, printed version 2003Second edition, electronic version 2018</p