A review by littoral
What Would You Do?: Juggling Bioethics and Ethnography by Charles L. Bosk

4.0

Collection of essays on shared theme of the ethnography of bioethics, and the bioethics of ethnography. Essays exploring the ethics of ethnography feel somewhat stronger as Bosk reflects frankly on his experiences conducting ethnography for his books Forgive and Remember and All God's Mistakes. Essays on a possible ethnography of bioethics raise interesting questions about role of bioethics in institutions, including who constitutes an expert, the power dynamic of bioethics consultation, and the pitfalls of formalized bioethics in IRBs, but largely leave us wanting the ethnography that his essays suggest we need. Also to (re-)read: Laura Stark's Behind Closed Doors, a study of IRBs that Bosk's essays demands.