Ethno (medical)-ethics as contested knowledge and practice in times of globalization : a case-study from China

International audience; Framing “new ethics” within both Chinese and international characteristics has become a pressing issue, while China’s research and innovation policy encourages a turn towards a knowledge economy and while a number of international/Chinese corporations delocalize industrial production in poorer countries offering cheaper labour. Plural health ideas, practices and medical sciences currently develop within the broader framework of social and economic transformation of the Chinese society. Voices from civil society at large wish also to participate in the debates going on in the official, academic and media spheres. On one side, ethno-(medical) ethics may be contested by most international development actors who strongly support a universalistic view of ethics; on the other side, local/national knowledge through the voices of a number of lay people’s groups, locally-based and trained experts, and official actors gain ground for recognition. Of course positions taken by all these stakeholders towards such knowledge in terms of knowledge production, decision-making, and policy implementation may widely diverge. Issues raised in the 2000s relative to medical ethics, bioethics and the New Health Reform guidelines and implementation, will be discussed. My study is based on data collected using anthropological methodology within the framework of a research project (2006-2011), conducted in partnership between the Peking Union Medical College/Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Human and Social Sciences Department, Center for Bioethics (IRD and PUMC/CAMS) in Beijing. My paper is organized in three parts: the first part builds on the 2000s health reform; the second one is about ethno-ethnics in China and elsewhere; and the third reports about ongoing discussions in China on a few medical ethics-related issues.