Undressing the Emperor? On the ethical dilemmas of hierarchical knowledge

Abstract

The title refers to Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale “The Emperor's New Clothes”. It indicates how hierarchies of power dominate what we see and how we act – in short, our ethical interaction. The author considers collaboration to be a prerequisite for improving quality in the arenas of health and social work, in persons as well as systems. She argues that a radical change in the direction of understanding knowledge and competence as co-creational is required. This again calls for a redefinition not only of the role of professions, of what it takes to be a professional, but also of the role of the user. Consequently, the author's approach challenges the institutional framework of health and social work, as well as the content and methodology of teaching.

Keywords:

• Ethics
• knowledge
• interprofessionality
• education
• practice

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the writing and content of the paper.