Embodying Moral Space: Exploring a Care Ethical Constellation Tool for Moral Deliberation

Abstract

This paper explores whether and how moral space, as the unfolding of an expressive-collaborative process, can be fostered in a way that engages embodied, affective experiences in relational practices of responsibility. A care ethical constellation is a tool that aims to shed light on relational needs and responsibilities as experienced by participants in an institutional context. We present the theoretical backgrounds of this tool. Then the use of the tool in an eldercare organization is reflected on through a hermeneutical phenomenological analysis. We answer the following questions: (1) How are identities, relationships, and values in this organizational context experienced, as elucidated by the care ethical constellation? (2) Can this care ethical constellation be considered a suitable tool to foster moral space? Our findings show how this tool brought to the fore previously hidden experiences of distance and power struggles between several groups in the organization. It also sheds light on values at stake: a longing for connection and a shared sense of humanness. In the Discussion we look through a lens of “precariousness” to rethink the experience of power struggle, and to deepen our insight into the “political” of a political care ethics. There is a reflection on valuable features, challenges, and requirements concerning this tool for fostering a moral space that productively works with political care ethics in organizations. By inviting participants to share embodied experiences and paying attention to the political hegemonies at play, this approach highlights the embodied dimensions of political care ethics.