"Epistemic Liberation & Ethical Challenges in Global Health" with Alexandre Martins, PhD

This seminar, which originally aired on April 4, 2025, explores common epistemological frameworks underpinning global health initiatives in the Global South. These frameworks raise ethical concerns, as they often sustain research, education, and medical delivery that generate conflicts with local realities shaped by distinct worldviews. Drawing from liberation theology, which emphasizes the preferential option for the poor and the liberation of marginalized communities from systemic oppression, the presentation highlights the need for an "epistemic liberation" built in a process from below. This involves challenging dominant Western paradigms and embracing locally rooted knowledge systems. The presentation raises the question of whether such an epistemic liberation is necessary for global health initiatives to truly promote health in a way that empowers and fosters the independence of local communities. Alexandre A. Martins is a Brazilian theologian and bioethicist, serving as an associate professor in the Department of Theology and the College of Nursing at Marquette University in Wisconsin. His research focuses on bioethics and global health from a liberating perspective, specializing in healthcare ethics and social ethics, particularly in public health, global health, community-based approaches, and Catholic social teaching. His scholarship spans diverse areas, with his most recent books including Christology and Global Ethics: Encountering the Poor in a Pluralist Reality (Paulist Press, 2023) and A Prophet to the People: Paul Farmer’s Witness and Theological Ethics (Pickwick Press, 2023), co-edited with Jannie W. Block and M. Therese Lysaught. He is currently working on the project, Bioethics from a New Lens: Foundations, Liberation, and Global Public Health, and serving as president of the Brazilian Society of Moral Theology.