LAURA HELLSTEN
A mind of care Responding ethically to COVID-19
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30664/ar.91843 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
his article approaches issues arising out of matter and ethics, as well as post- being in the middle of the first wave of the humanist views on agency. However, COVID-19 pandemic in Finland in March T adopting these views had never ‘mat- 2020, both from the point of view of the lived experience of caring for people in our conference tered’ as they did now. In essence, this setting, and through analysing the statements way of perceiving the world had been and actions of the Finnish government from the transformed overnight from being my point of view of an Ethics of Care. It argues that preferred way of reasoning to being an ethics of care approach is better equipped at dealing with thinking about and understanding one of the few narrative frameworks complex life situations such as the spread of the left that could make sense of the world pandemic than what the standardised taxonomy order that all of us now need to deal approaches offer. It further states that an ethics with. of care not only provides concepts and frame- works that help people grapple with challenging situations in an ethical manner, it also enables us In this article, I will explore how what has to imagine how hospitality and solidarity can be been called the standardised taxonomy envisioned anew. (mainly pertaining to deontology and utili- tarianism, from now on ST) of moral rea- Returning from Helsinki, on Thursday soning and ethical thinking falls short of 12 March 2020, I receive first a letter addressing the challenges that governments, from my university stating that confer- people and communities are facing due ences, such as our NSU Winter Sym- to the COVID-19 pandemic. I commence posium, will not be arranged in the with my own experience at the start of the coming months. Later that same day, I pandemic, relating it to the framework of receive a second letter, telling me that an ethics of care while comparing it to ST one of the participants of the just-fin- ways of reasoning. In the second part of the ished conference may have become article, I expand these reflections from the sick with the COVID-19 virus infec- micro to the macro level by analysing the tion. These simultaneous events made statements made at the press conferences of my head spin and escalated emotional the Finnish government given between 12 and mental processes that thus far March and 15 April 2020.1 In my analysis, had played mainly theoretical roles in my thinking and being. I have long 1 The framework is entirely determined by embraced entangled theories of space, the deadline of this particular article and
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 141 I will follow up on the earlier arguments, The micro experience of COVID-19 provocatively presented in 2014 by Ruth in an ethics of care framework Groenhout, that only virtue ethics and an When struck with the insight that COVID- ethics of care are the forms of ethical rea- 19 was no longer a flu-like sickness severely soning – found in standardised textbooks affecting mainly elderly, unhealthy males in of morals and ethics in the Western soci- a faraway country, but rather a new reality ety today – that can adequately deal with that I had to deal with, it activated within the complexities of the world (Groenhout me something that had been lying latent.4 2014: 489–94).2 After presenting the prob- Receiving the news that one of the people lems created by ST in the first part of this I had shared time and space with might be article, I will in the second part, show how sick and might have infected others while the situation appears in a new light when being in Finland, prompted me as one of the analytical lens of an ethics of care is the leaders of the Winter Symposium to applied to the material gathered from the take action. Before taking action, however, press conferences. Finally, I will provide a I needed to sort out what the appropriate short description of what has been made measures to take were and in which order visible by applying the lens of an ethics of they should be considered – a common care paradigm to the materials that have ethical dilemma. been presented. Answering both the ques- Approaching this situation from what tion of what has been made visible through Groenhout has named the ST of ethical sys- the use of this lens and what the current tems, it may appear as a classical concern challenges will be, if the avowed aim of the with individuals and their choices. These government of ‘caring for the vulnerable are two of three markers for how the ST and persons in risk’3 is to be fulfilled for all stipulates ethical dilemmas in a problem- individuals in Finnish society. atic manner (Groenhout 2014: 489). The ST system would perceive me as an agent and that the task needed is to decide the right or best options for me to do, deter- should later be expanded, with a more com- mined from either a precisely calculated prehensive analysis of the whole pandemic period. consequence analysis, or with some ideal- 2 Groenhout does not argue that these are ised and universal goal in mind (ibid. pp. the only theories that could deal with the 489–93). The agency that needs focusing complexities of the world, only that few on in this situation, however, is primarily textbooks deal with other examples. She suggests that, for example, Confucian ethics the virus. I am not claiming – even though could be used for the same aim, however, my viewpoint is informed by post-human- it is often wrongfully presented as a form ist thought – that the virus has the same of virtue ethics due to the distorted view of kind of agency as humans have.5 Rather, I ethical reasoning created by the ST. am referring to a situation where people fail 3 The government declared ‘Haluamme suo- jata ikääntyneitä ja riskiryhmiin kuuluvia’ to see some degree of agency in the virus (‘We want to protect people of advanced age and those that are part of a risk group’, Pekonen, GPC 16.3.2020). The emphasis 4 Esa Saarinen speaks in his lectures about on elderly people and people in vulnerable ‘Ajattelun, ajattelun, ajattelu’ (‘The thought positions has continued throughout the of thinking about thinking’; Saarinen 2020). period analysed which I will return to fur- 5 I thank the anonymous reviewer for point- ther on. ing out this somewhat unclear statement.
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 142 and perceive the problem as one that can sort of situation has been described theor be controlled and manipulated as soon as etically as ‘agential’ or ‘vibrant’ materialism we have the right ‘facts’ in our hands. This, (Barad 2007; Bennett 2010). These forms of I claim, would lead to a situation where we materialism are said to ‘…consciously offer make ‘bad’ judgements for ourselves and alternatives to perspectives that assume a our communities.6 radical distinction between human agents What increases the complexity of the and nonhuman passive objects’ (Rowe situation further is the fact that COVID- 2017: 277–8). To make sense of the situ 19 spreads not only through human inter- ation I was faced with, I needed to be able action, but also through animal-to-ani- to imagine my world in a way akin to the mal interaction, as well as via animals, by entangled networks of intra-active force the virus ‘hosting’ organic matter such as relations that earlier had been described cells (Sahlgren 2020), droplets spreading to me by Karen Barad concerning quan- through the air, or by landing on non-living tum physics and brittlestars (Barad 2007: matter such as door knobs and textiles.7 This 60–3, 66, 375). Neither the autonomous, rational self that stands behind the Kantian 6 The distinction between ‘bad’ and ‘good’ notion of universal principles, nor the self- judgement in the situation of the pandemic sufficient agent that will actualise his/her is well made by Camilla Kronqvist (2020). self-realisation by determining the conse- 7 By the time of writing this article, scientists quences of all their doings in the manner still do not know exactly how and what may spread the virus in human interac- described by consequentialist ethics, are tion. However, what is clear is that at the capable of grasping the world within which onset, COVID-19 spread from animals COVID-19 is active (Groenhout 2014: 489; to humans. ‘Coronaviruses are envel- Pettersen 2008: 57–9). Instead, what is oped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA called for, to be able to ‘track’ the agency of viruses, capable of rapid mutation and recombination. They are classified into COVID-19, is a worldview that can envi- alphacoronaviruses and betacoronaviruses, sion the intricate ways that not only I, as a which both have their gene source from human, but matter itself, took part in the bats and are mainly found in mammals ongoing, open-ended articulation of the such as bats, rodents, civets, and humans; and gammacoronaviruses and deltacorona- world (Barad 2007: 343). For this, my pre- viruses, which both have their gene source vious theoretical engagements with femi- from birds and are mainly found in birds’ nist and new materialist thinking had pre- (Fuk-Woo Chan et al. 2020: 522). Later pared me well. developments have shown that further spreading mainly happens in human-to- Furthermore, the way an ethics of care human interaction. However, spreading describes the relational aspects of human amongst fruit bats and ferrets has been existence is that it does not only deal with clinically induced (Schlottau et al. 2020). matter as such. I indeed needed to map the Furthermore, when news about COVID- 19 first appeared the risks of spreading the virus between asymptomatic individuals and the use of facial masks with healthy was described as small. While time has population was described as unnecessary passed, the pre-emptive measures have (THL 2020). By 15 April, the government rather increased than decreased. At the stated that we are all potential carriers start of the discussions the Finnish institute (Ohisalo, GPC 15.4.2020). Furthermore, for health and welfare (THL) claimed that the use of facial masks has now been proven asymptomatic people can carry on with life to prevent the transmission of the virus as usual, only taking care of hand hygiene (Chu et al. 2020).
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 143 space our participants had been in and the sense of self; that ‘my sense of identity is artefacts they had come into contact with, crucially constituted by the reactions and in order to visualise the potential agency responses of those around me’ (ibid.). None of COVID-19. Groenhout describes rela- of these dimensions of decision-making, tionality as a physical interconnectedness and processing over the actions-to-be, are (Groenhout 2014: 489–90), I also needed to rendered relevant in the ethical dilemmas map which people in our group had shared that those engaged in ST reasoning create rooms, dinner tables, had gone on walks for themselves. If anything, involving emo- together, as well as who had served us when tional reactions in moral reasoning has we attended a lecture or banquet. Such traditionally been frowned upon as lacking thinking could aim at grasping the network in intelligence and rationality (Held 1990: of COVID-19 and human interaction.8 329–34; Pettersen 2008: 59–63). When it came to my agency, I further However, the problem with the ST is needed to take into consideration what more profound than a discussion about Groenhout calls the intellectual relatedness agents and the relationality of matter (in (Groenhout 2014: 490); which kind of lan- cluding humans). It is also a question of guage and concepts would I use to describe worldview and narrative frameworks. The the current situation in a way that neither understanding of the world as primar- created an unnecessary panic reaction, nor ily entangled and relational does not only downplayed the seriousness of the situation pertain to individuals and their agency. It we were now caught up in. The latter calls is also a question of how actions and con- for what care ethicists have called every- sequences are perceived as non-separable thing from affective ‘right-brain thinking’ and predictable by the agents involved in (Donovan 2007: 73) and emotional intel- executing these (Groenhout 2014: 492–4). ligence (Warren 2000: 109–13), to emo- In the mechanical universe of Newton, tional responsiveness (Pettersen 2008: with its clearly defined laws and linear ways 59–63; Groenhout 2014: 490). It is not of reasoning, or for the autonomous self of enough for me to merely state some simple Descartian reason, it would seem plausible rational ‘facts’ about the situation to the that one can calculate the likelihood of spe- people involved. What is called for instead, cific consequences or the arrangement of is the ability to understand how human fear different courses of action with one particu- affects reasoning, how different tones, even lar hierarchical pattern. That would make in my written text, may influence how a it possible to discern the best and most message is perceived. Also, a capacity to deal profitable operation of a situation (Barad in a caring manner with the emotional and 2017: 26; Keller 2017: 115–16; Clayton and sometimes unconscious reactions of people Singleton 2017: 137). Joan Tronto, however, receiving my communication is needed. illustrates that the relationality connecting These dimensions further pertain to what people creates a network of responsibility Groenhout calls the relational aspect of a that cannot be reduced to its minimal com- ponents (Tronto 2012: 304–6). Faced with the prospect of COVID- 8 After the writing of this article, in Finland, 19 spreading amongst the students, staff over 2,000 people have signed up for train- ing as trackers. Further research should be and other personnel at Åbo Akademi Uni done on what methods are used in this spe- versity, I immediately realised that this is cialised training. not the time for me to play with the idea
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 144 that I know or can control the consequences To close this personal mode of reflect- of a variety of different actions. Not only ing over what the framework of an ethics am I incapable of peeking into the future of care has to offer in light of COVID-19, to follow the ‘traces’ left by COVID-19, I will return to Groenhout’s critique of the but attempting to do so would obscure the continued use of the ST. She states – and I relational clues I do have to orient myself hope these examples have clarified how – in space and time. It would be an act of among other things, that the ST operates ethical suicide – obscuring my inner com- with categories that prevent us from asking pass – to push myself to take actions where salient ethical questions (Groenhout 2014: individual lives are traded over and above 482, 489). She ends her chapter by arguing others, to ‘fit’ some narrow framework of that: what is considered morally correct behav- iour (Groenhout 2014: 493–4). What an Theoretical categories should not ethics of care has to offer instead, is a differ- make it harder to see relevant facts ent epistemological framework; one where about our lives; they should make the imagination and formation are as crucial relevant features more apparent, not as traditional knowledge claims (Pettersen less. If a set of theoretical categor 2008: 56–7, 80–2). ies systematically obscures important In the worldview and narrative frame- aspects, then they need to be revised work embraced by non-ST modes of rea- or supplemented, not built into the soning, facts cannot be simply nor effi- basis of how theories are taught and ciently detached from values and meaning evaluated. (Groenhout 2014: 497) (Barad 2007: 107, 138, 185, 274–5). The complexity of the COVID-19 situation is Groenhout calls for the implementa- thus not only a question of gathering the tion of a new taxonomy built around eth- correct facts about an unknown problem. ical frameworks such as virtue ethics and Both virtue ethics and an ethics of care an ethics of care, as well as religious or spir- share the same underlying story; that matter itual reasoning, such as that of Confucian is formed by action. Meaning, that not only ethics (Groenhout 2014: 499). As I under- my behavioural choices but also my emo- stand Groenhout’s call for new frameworks tional responses, conceptual framework for ethical theorising, she is not only asking and capacity to reason are changed by what philosophers, theologians and ethicists to I envision to be good, what I see as the goal stop engaging with the ST as a given frame. of living with COVID-19 and what I per- She is also asking the academic commu- ceive human life to be all about (Groenhout nity to awaken to dealing with theories 2014: 494; McIntyre 2008: 281–5). To be that can grasp the scientific understand- clear, I am not arguing that I am incapable ing as it is stipulated today, fusing the best of gaining knowledge, nor that the actions of religious/spiritual traditions and secular of humans have no affective power – rather knowledge. She states that teaching systems the contrary. The question is rather about of thinking that are capable of dealing with perceiving the world, and myself in it, in the complexities of life and the challenges a whole new way. Once I do, new things, of wicked problems is necessary.9 She fur- stories and ideas matter. Also, new modes of acting become attainable, opening in 9 Wicked problems is a concept first intro- their turn to a new set of possibilities. duced in 1967 by Professor Horst Rittel of
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 145 ther wants to cater for the experiences of life ment.11 Marin’s government is formed outside a limited view of the past hundred by the Finnish Social Democratic Party, years of Western science – what could also the Centre Party, the Greens in Finland, be called acquired wisdom from centur the Left Alliance and the Swedish People’s ies of non-Western thinking. This is what Party of Finland. The government has I would call a hospitable future of ethics. I 19 ministers out of which a majority are see the pandemic of COVID-19 as a plaus females,12 and the core group is an all- ible situation where this kind of radical step female panel of five.13 My reason for analys- finally could be made. ing the statements made by the government In what follows I will commence such from an ethics of care point of view is not a discussion by analysing the press confer- based on the fact that it is a female-dom- ence materials through the lens of an ethics inated group of leaders.14 My take on the of care. Due to lack of space I aim only at revealing some aspects of how the COVID- 19 situation can be understood from the 11 She was 34 years old at the time of election ethics of care paradigm and I will keep and has thus been highlighted for being the second-youngest leader in the world the virtue ethics and different traditions of (Donadio 2020). theological reasoning to a minimum. 12 Many of the women in this government constellation are also under 40. During The macro perspective of the government the review process of this article, Minister of Sanna Marin in light of an ethics of care of Finance Katri Kulmuni left her post and was replaced by a man. In this section I will continue with a 13 The Prime Minister Sanna Marin (Social description of what differentiates an ethics Democratic Party), Minister of the Interior of care paradigm while moving the con- Maria Ohisalo (Greens in Finland), Min- ister of Education Li Andersson (Left Alli- versation on to the broader perspective of ance), Minister of Finance Katri Kulmuni the statements made in the press releases (Centre Party), Minister of Justice Anna- of the Finnish government during the first Maja Henriksson (Swedish People’s Party). wave of the pandemic.10 On 10 December At times also other ministers are part of 2019, Sanna Marin was appointed the the statements analysed in this article. The Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto Prime Minister of Finland’s 76th govern- (Greens in Finland), Minister of Science and Culture Hanna Kosonen (the Cen- the University of California Architecture tre Party), Minister of Social Affairs and Department. ‘ “Wicked problem” refer to Health Aino-Kaisa Pekonen (Left Alliance). that class of social system problems which 14 Even though the ‘founding mother’ of the are ill-formulated, where the information is ethics of care, Carol Gilligan, who wrote confusing, where there are many clients and the book In a Different Voice: Psychological decision-makers with conflicting values, Theory and Women's Development (1982), and where the ramifications in the whole which started the discussions around an system are thoroughly confusing. The ethics of care, is often accused of harbour- adjective “wicked” is supposed to describe ing an essentialist view on gender, this is the mischievous and even evil quality of not in line with her own statements. Gil- these problems, where the proposed “solu- ligan writes that the association of care tions” often turn out to be worse than the with women is not absolute, and is not to symptoms’ (Churchman 1967: B-141). be taken as a generalisation of either sex 10 On 15 June 2020 the government stated (Gilligan 1982: 2). Tove Pettersen further that the period of the Emergency Power explains that Gilligan describes the con- Act had ended due to the constant decline trasts between male and female voices to of infection rates. highlight, she says, a distinction between
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 146 relevance of an ethics of care, as this article variety of reasons. For example, in the more has already pointed out, comes from how Aristotelian forms of virtue ethics, with its this particular ethical framework is cap classification into vegetative spirits, animal able of dealing with current state ethical spirits and human reasoning (De Anima 2), dilemmas adequately. My understanding of the most enlightened states of existence are an ethics of care is that it is based on the not even achievable by women, or the non- universal human experience of being born Greek slave males (Leunissen 2017: xvi, into this world as vulnerable and interde- 139–77; Berges 2015: 2–8). pendent beings that have received mother The biases found in some forms of ing from either their biological/birth moth- virtue ethics have led feminist thinkers to ers or some other significant caregiver turn away from Aristotelian discussions on (Pettersen 2008: 78–80; Pettersen 2011: 52; virtue and root their thinking around care Held 2006: 44). Independently of the qual- and virtue in the writings of Plato (Berges ity of the mothering received, no child can 2015: 12–20).16 The benefit of understand- survive and develop into maturity without ing care in a way similar to virtue is that receiving care, comfort and support either even when it is a universal human experi- by parents or by what Patricia Hill Collins ence, it is also a trait that one is not fully calls othermothers.15 Such a unifying nar- born with. Care can and does develop over rative framework differentiates an ethics of a lifetime. In this sense, care, particularly in care from certain forms of virtue ethics. its practical details, is socially habituated Furthermore, these circumstances of and changes its form according to the cir- interdependence and vulnerability are de cumstances one is faced with (Groenhout scriptive of most mammals, which extends 2014: 494, 498; Pettersen 2008: 123–7). the experience of receiving and giving The reason I chose an ethics of care care beyond the borders of human life as the paradigm through which to ana- (Montgomery and Thomas 2017: 8, 134– lyse the statements of the government of 5). The question of extending care beyond Sanna Marin, is because it offers an ethical human interactions is important for a lens where care for the vulnerable, equal- ity between the sexes and environmental two modes of thought and to bring a prob- concerns are catered for. I am not claim- lem of interpretation into focus (Pettersen ing that the government is acting out of, 2008: 9). Gilligan has also later explained and consciously supporting, an ethics of that the main aim of her work has been not care paradigm. Instead, the ethics of care to create a gender-specific form of ethics, but to highlight the dominant male order of is my analytical lens. I chose this lens after reasoning. In Joining the Resistance (2011), she writes: ‘A feminist ethic of care is a dif- ferent voice within a patriarchal culture 16 There are of course people like Martha because it joins reason with emotion, mind Nussbaum who argue that it is possible to with body, self with relationship, men with be a feminist and develop the Aristotelian women, resisting the divisions that main- forms of thinking. The close relationship tain a patriarchal order’ (Gilligan 2011: between an ethics of care and virtue eth- 22). I thank Mikael Nilsson for making me ics is further contested by care ethicists aware of this in his Master’s thesis (Nilsson (Grouenhout 2014: 494; Steyl 2019: 13–17). 2019). My stance is that there are similarities 15 I thank Andreas Andersson for making between the different systems and that me aware of this term in his Master’s thesis more research is needed to define the dif- (Andersson 2019: 41–2). ferences.
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 147 Pixabay
The interconnectedness of life.
taking note of the inherent central values facts18 about the development of the dis- in the statements presented in the discus- ease19 in Finland: what measures are best to sion about COVID-19.17 My aim with the use for preventing the spread of the disease, analysis is to show what such an ethical and on describing the present state of prep- framework makes visible in this particular aration in the country for a plausible arrival example. of more infections.20 However, as soon as A secondary reason for choosing an the World Health Organisation character- ethics of care paradigm for this analysis is ised COVID-19 as a pandemic (11.3.2020), the pattern of growth, change and adapt the female panel made their first joint press ability that the statements from the govern- conference. There they stated that even ment show. An ethical framework of mere though Finland is not yet severely infected, principles could not achieve similar out- we will stand in solidarity with the rest of comes. I will exemplify this shortly. the world and start preparations for when In the first press conference on COVID- further actions might be needed (GDP 19 (27.2.2020) the focus lay on sharing 12.3.2020).
18 ‘One can trust the Finnish government’ was the statement repeated by the speakers 17 The three concerns are found in the fol- (Marin and Pekonen, GPC 27.2.2020). lowing statements: care for the vulnerable 19 Aino-Kaisa Pekonen even apologised for (Marin, GPC 12.3.2020; Pekonen, Kulmuni the personal intrusion of telling people how and Kiuru, GPC 16.3.2020; GPC 20.3., to wash their hands with soap and water 25.3.2020; Ohisalo, GPC 8.3.2020), equal- (Pekonen, GPC 27.2.2020). ity between the sexes, and the environment 20 First mentioning of the fact that Finland (Marin, Kulmuni, Ohisalo and Andersson, has a National Emergency Supply Agency GPC 8.3.2020). (GPC 27.2.2020).
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 148 The statement that I argue justifies GPC 16.3.2020). It was further specified an analysis of the government action and that the elderly and people at risk are to thinking from an ethics of care point of be protected (Pekonen, GPC 16.3.2020). view, was pronounced in the following Finally, these statements are repeated in manner: ‘Ihmisten terveys ja turvallisuus discussions concerning extra budgets for menee kaiken muun edelle’ (Marin GPC health care, education and financial aid 12.03.2020) – a sentence declaring that the given to primarily or secondarily afflicted health and safety of the people precedes all people (GPC 20.3., 23.3., 2.4., 8.4.2020). else in importance. As I will show, this core Even the Minister of Finance Katri Kulmuni statement has further taken on other fea- stated: we carry the burdens of each other, tures that are in line with how an ethics of and such behaviour is needed in this time care paradigm views the world. Tronto has of crisis (Kulmuni, GPC 16.3., 20.3.2020). defined an attentiveness to care in the fol- These statements can be described as both lowing way: other-centredness and a development in what an attentiveness to care signifies. I have noted that in order to be atten- I will commence with a short discus- tive to the needs of others one must sion on the principle of attentiveness to the relinquish the absolute primacy of needs of others. The health and security of the needs of the self. In this regard, people can be presumed to be in the inter- attentive care is incompatible with the ests of most leaders of societies. Particularly paradigmatic relationship of modern governments with developed welfare sys- society, exchange (Hartsock 1983). tems seem to be structurally providing for The paradigm of market relations, of the needs of others. Are then not all gov- exchange, involves putting one’s own ernments of this kind abiding by an ethics interests first. It involves the assertion of care paradigm? I argue that apparent dif- that one knows one’s own interests ferences can be found. For more justified best, another assumption inconsistent claims, a more detailed comparison would with the attitude of caring. It involves be needed. reducing complex relations into terms To exemplify different patterns of that can be made equivalent. None thought, I will present two varying strat- of these premises is compatible with egies. The UK is one of the countries that attentiveness. (Tronto 1995: 107) initially opted for a so-called ‘herd immu- nity’ strategy regarding protection (Kahn In the following sections, I will scrutin and Dunn 2020). In this model, the aim ise the three aspects described: attentive- is to create a sufficiently large pool of ness to the needs of others, willingness to people that have had the disease. The con- set oneself aside when finding solutions, sequence of this is that some people are and the epistemological messiness of living ‘let to die’. Instead of many offering them- together in care. The emphasis on putting selves for a few, a few are offered for the the care of others before oneself was pro- many. Thinking in such patterns comes nounced in several ways by the ministers. very close to utilitarianism, and the idea They stated that the strategy with COVID- that care can be reduced to smooth trans- 19 is that vulnerable people are kept safe. At actions. Furthermore, during the process of the same time, the healthy adult population reviewing this article it has become more takes on the disease (Kiuru and Kulmuni, clear that opting for this kind of utilitarian
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 149 thinking has also become hazardous, as the cost-benefit calculation. Nevertheless, the acquisition of immunity to COVID-19 has underlying philosophical and ethical men- turned out to be more complicated than tality is one of engineering and market rela- with other diseases. tions. In the following, I will show how an The second example is Sweden, that ethics of care paradigm cannot be built on seems to have opted for a double aim. measurable and exchangeable goods. They state that they want to protect the In line with an ethics of care paradigm vulnerable and elderly people by regulat- which considers not only concrete acts ing how infections spread. They have, on of care, this line of reasoning introduces the other hand, not forced schools to close immaterial values such as love, joy, connec- or restricted how businesses are to open tion, a sense of belonging, spiritual growth – keeping society functioning is of vital and emotional flourishing as import importance (Ekholm et al. 2020). The epi- ant aspects to be taken into consider demiologist Anders Tegnell states that herd ation in human life (Groenhout 2014: 486; immunity is not their official strategy, but Pettersen 2008: 55–7, 67, 78–80; Tronto sees it as the only sustainable outcome 2012: 307). These can and must be culti- (Sundholm 2020). Even though Sweden is vated. When analysing the Finnish govern- a country known for its developed welfare ment statements, I found several examples system, the thinking behind these choices of both concrete acts of care and focus on seems to point at some kind of implicit immaterial and unmeasurable values. The cost-benefit calculation. ministers stated: Johan Strang explains that the history of Swedish welfare is so ingrained in questions • What we all need is food and medicine. of the economy that distinctions are hard We have that and will continue to keep to make. In Sweden, economists are linked those supplies coming (GPC 16.3., 26.3., to both creating and upholding a function- 27.3.2020). ing welfare state and thus are not seen as ‘enemies’ of the welfare system.21 Strang • What we also need is fresh and clean (2020), however, states that the adminis- nature. A surprising number of state- trative and political systems in Sweden are ments have centred around the need to under a stronger influence of neoliberal and walk your dog, taking hikes in nature financially driven interests than in other and having access to summer cottages Nordic countries. A similar analysis has (GPC 16.3., 18.3., 19.3., 20.3., 25.3., previously been made by Jonna Bornemark 26.3., 15.4.2020). (2018), albeit in a different way. From an ethics of care viewpoint, there is no denial • To be able to engage in meaningful of the entanglement of care and the econ- activities – ranging from the right to omy. It may be correct, as Strang indicates, education of children and youngsters, that the Swedish strategy is not a traditional to the need for movement, laughter and solemn spiritual activities (Andersson and Korhonen, GPC 18.3.2020). 21 A shadow aspect of this is also the close relationship the Swedish welfare system has with the ideas of social engineering pointed • The need to connect and create a sense out by Göran Rosenberg in an article in of community which has been empha- Expressen (Rosenberg 2020). sised both through caring for loved ones
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 150 at a distance (GPC 16.3., 20.3., 25.3., crisis – they, first and foremost, show a sig- 15.4.2020), repeating that the govern- nificant lack of vision regarding what is ment aims at not recreating the negative possible. The Finnish government is not consequences of the economic regres- acting with false beliefs about people not sion of the 90s when the state removed getting sick or dying (GPC 16.3., 8.4.2020). its caring arm from the people with dras- What they have stated is that they will do tic, and during that time, unrecognised everything in their power to keep these mental health and social consequences numbers as low as possible. Furthermore, (GPC 8.4.2020), as well as repeating the they have stated that the state is capable of encouraging slogan: together we can do carrying the burdens of this crisis better this! (GPC 16. 3., 18.3., 20.3., 25.3., 27.3., than vulnerable individuals, even when it 30.3., 1.4., 2.4., 8.4., 15.4.2020). comes to questions that go beyond life and death (GPC 20.3., 25.3., 8.4.2020). Such • Living in thankfulness and hope, which choices are seen as foolishness in the world the government has modelled by thank- of market relations. ing different parts of the population This strand of thought brings us back and leading people in various offices, to the epistemological messiness of living at almost every given possibility (GPC together in care. What I find particularly 18.3., 20.3., 25.3., 26.3., 27.3., 30.3., 1.4., problematic in the choices made by the 2.4., 4.4., 8.4., 15.4.2020). Early reflec- leaders in Sweden, is an implicit claim that tion on how once we have endured this an expert like Anders Tegnell knows best suffering and these challenges, we will what is the best for him and/or the popu- create something new together (GPC lation. In comparison with the actions and 16.3.2020). statements of the Finnish government, there is an epistemological hubris present In light of these, non-measurable and that blocks the ability to see the networks thick descriptions of life, mechanical cost– of responsibility that are to be found. Such benefit calculations fall into a completely a claim needs an intricate explanation. different position (Bornemark 2018: 35–7, As Tronto stated earlier, attention to 145–50). Thus, I am arguing that the state- care encapsulates the ability to consider ments and actions of the Finnish govern- not only complex relations, but also knowl- ment can be understood not as lacking in edge of differing viewpoints. It is an abil- economic understanding, but as part of a ity to set oneself aside and to listen to the broader epistemological framework. The other. In practical terms, this means that difference when care – rather than meas- on the one hand, I have been arguing urable and exchangeable goods – is placed that an ethics of care paradigm does not at the centre of a discussion is that other embrace the idea that what is essential in options appear. When care is neither con- human life can be reduced and measured. verted into measurable and quantifiable Neither can it be understood only through entities nor side-tracked by contrary values, clearly defined concepts and descriptions new economic and ethical visions enter the (Bornemark 2018: 34–47, 244–59, 262–7). scene. In both the direct and indirect ref- On the other hand, this does not hinder it erence to herd immunity, I argue that the from applying measures and calculations leaders not only jeopardise human lives when they are needed. As the Finnish gov- with an unstable idea of a solution to the ernment has repeatedly pronounced, its
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 151 wish to gain more scientific knowledge of the situation: ‘Jos vaatimuksena on about COVID-19; participate in research täydellisyys emme voi muuta kuin epä that works to develop testing methods, find onnistua’ (‘If perfection is a prerequisite for a vaccine and re-create a healthy society action, we will fail’, Marin GPC 1.4.2020); after the pandemic with the help of scien- ‘Meidän pitää tässä mielessä elää epävar- tific experts (GPC 1.4., 8.4., 15.4.2020), the muudessa ja tehdä päätöksiä epävarman leaders apparently value knowledge claims ja osittain myös puutteellisen tiedon kes- made in a paradigm of calculation. They kellä’ (‘We need to live in the idle state of also show signs of trusting the reasoning of uncertainty and make decisions based on natural sciences and medicine. uncertain and even quite minimal amounts As I see it, it is even highly plausible of information’, Marin, GPC 1.4.2020). that the rapid and immediate actions of Instead of arguing that she had it all fig- the implementation of a state of emergency ured out, or blaming others for question- (16.3.2020) and the measure of closing able actions made, Marin took it on herself down Uusimaa (the region of the capital to set an example of how to be truly vulner- of Finland where a lockdown was issued able and interdependent in this situation. 25.3.–15.4.2020) are mainly built on math- The willingness of the Finnish govern- ematical predictions and calculations made ment officials to admit the need for receiv- by analysing statistics from the spread of ing assistance is not merely found in med- COVID-19 in China.22 This kind of think- ical and disease prevention situations. ing, however, was used where appropriate, Government statements have appealed to not in an attempt to solve all other types of academics and scientists for contributions problems. Furthermore, at no time did the even in the fields of politics and sociology government proclaim that they can predict – the areas of expertise of the ministers outcomes or have complete knowledge of themselves (GPC 8.4.2020). What is dis- the situation.23 played in these examples is a more humble On the contrary, the willingness to attitude towards personal capacities and be humble regarding one’s expertise, and an acknowledgement of the messiness of desire to ask for advice has been present in knowledge claims. the government statements. At one point As Esa Saarinen and Raimo Hämäläinen during a press conference, Marin herself have pointed out in their work with Sys stated that she had fallen short in caring temic Intelligence research in organisations: for how things had developed and that she good leadership is constructed around the most likely would continue to make prob- ability to see many simultaneously active lematic judgements due to the uncertainty paths of action, reasoning and perception. A highly skilled leader does not get caught in one narrow path of thinking. Instead, 22 In some of the examples being spread on he or she can read the system and handle the internet, prevented deaths were meas- a multiplicity of viewpoints when search- ured according to which day a potential lockdown would have taken place (Pueyo ing for the best road to travel (Saarinen 2020). and Hämäläinen 2004: 20–7, 31–2). This is 23 This becomes particularly evident compar the ability to imagine the map of relations ing this to the Swedish Health Institute described in the micro section of this art which has made predictions that have been icle. What further differentiates the ethics later withdrawn (Folkhälsomyndigheten 2020). of care paradigm from generally good
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 152 leadership skills is the perception of asym- step into child care practices when families metrical relationships. run into trouble (GPC 16.3.2020); prom- ising that the youngsters that are close to Asymmetrical relations dropping out of school will be provided As my last point of departure, I will turn with extra assistance, or speaking about to the characterisation of an ethics of care providing shelter for families with sub- as incorporating an asymmetrical under- stance abuse and violent patterns of inter- standing of power relations (Tronto 2012: action (GPC 2.4.2020). What is revealed 311–13; Pettersen 2008: 78–80, 131–2, in these statements is not equality between 179–80; Held 2010: 121). Groenhout ex people, nor a willingness to give everybody plains that when ethical theory begins the same measure of attention and care. with the assumption of equality – be it Instead, these statements can be seen the equal worth of all parties involved or as examples of acknowledging asymmetry the equal distribution of means or car- and stepping into the relational demand rying of burdens – large portions of the that lies latent in the hierarchy of life moral realm become either unintelligible (Tronto 2012: 308). The difference between or invisible (Groenhout 2014: 486–7). This the relational responsibility described by particular claim may sound counterintui- Emmanuel Lévinas’s ethical demand or tive, especially if one has been trained in K. E. Lögstrup’s absolute demand of the the ST fashion of thinking, which operates other (Vikström 2018: 112–13) is pre- with transcendent principles. Furthermore, cisely the acknowledgement that we are my description above of the government not standing face to face with ‘the Other’. seeking advice from experts in looking for What an ethics of care makes visible, is the solutions for the peculiar situation it faces, fact that we first and foremost need to see would rather indicate the willingness to those who are unseen and with those we share burdens equally, than an acknowl- are not in an equal position in the encoun- edgement of asymmetry. ter. Tronto goes on to state: The above standpoints need further attention. In turning towards the experts, Once we begin to notice that assign- the government is acknowledging the fact ing, accepting, deferring, deflecting, that their ability to judge as well as possible and meeting responsibility involves is dependent on the contribution of others power, some of the important asym- – displaying the asymmetrical relation- metries of responsibility are revealed. ship. Nevertheless, what is of interest in an The advantage of the relational ap ethics of care is to acknowledge completely proach to responsibility becomes clear unheard and unseen partners in the net- once we begin to think about assess- work. To create space for voices, viewpoints ing the seriousness of irresponsibility. and people that potentially will not be able (Tronto 2012: 308) to return the favour in a similar situation – this is to display asymmetry. In the state- So, at the core of an ethics of care is ments of the government, my concern here the call to acknowledge the power I and could be exemplified by the following state- we have, together with the responsibil- ments voicing that females do the major- ity for holding such power. Thus, even as ity of the labour of care; speaking about the the government of Finland has stated that need of grandparents and older relatives to they want to come through this crisis with
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 153 minimum damage (by acknowledging that the narrative framework of (something that the state is the stronger party which can seems in line with) the importance of care, carry the responsibility of such an insight), has provided the government of Finland they have not fulfilled the complete vision with the ability to not only make speeches of an ethics of care. Living fully in an ethics about care for the vulnerable but also pro- of care paradigm cannot be said to have vide frameworks for taking concrete action. happened as long as the migrant work- The government of Sanna Marin presented, ers of the Finnish agricultural system are in their press releases, an ability to address merely made visible, as was the case in the the complexity of the COVID-19 situation press conference (GPC 30.3.2020). What by focusing on non-material values and lis- is needed is a further acknowledgement of tening to a wide range of viewpoints. Not the vulnerable position these people have only were they willing, during the first wave been in for years; not an acknowledgement of the pandemic, to show themselves vul- of the state’s dependence on them, but an nerable in making ‘bad’ choices; the gov- acknowledgement that the Finnish agricul- ernment was also ready to make tough tural system has the power and responsibil- choices. One such example was when de ity to care for these workers.24 Only when ciding to re-open schools for a few weeks the immigrants and migrants in Finland before the summer break, mostly to pro- have been given access to a shared space of vide a period of stability for those families appearance, and been invited to imagine a who have been most harshly affected by the life together, will the relational responsibil- consequences of the pandemic. This con- ity have been attended to (Fulkerson 2007: crete measure exemplified that care is to 21). carry the responsibility of not just seeing the ‘other’ but using one’s power and privi- Conclusion lege in service of the more vulnerable party. As this article has shown, analysing the However, what remains unresolved in this COVID-19 situation and the statements of article is the question can, and will, such the government of Sanna Marin, from an care be provided for those resident ‘aliens’ ethics of care paradigm, is a highly fruit- of this country, that have long gone not ful endeavour. Not only has an ethics of only uncared for but unseen? The COVID- care, deepened by the feminist approaches 19 pandemic made these dependencies vis- of agential materialism, provided theoret ible to the more general public. What now ical categories that make relevant facts in remains to be resolved is if this same atti- the current situation visible. The analysis tude of care will be forthcoming, and suf- has shown that having an attitude of care ficient to cater for hospitality and solidar- can, and will, offer the ability to see features ity with the migrant workers? Or, is some about our lives that carry significance in other tool needed to reach beyond an ethics complex situations. It has also shown that of care into the embrace all creatureliness as the beloved material of God.
24 Newspaper articles on the conditions of migrant workers in Finland have been high-lighted during the summer of 2020, which might be a step in the right direction (Mattila 2020). However, more work needs to be done by all sections of society.
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 154 Kavilo Photographer Laura Hellsten is a post- Ecology of Things(Durham, NC: Duke Uni- doctoral fellow in the versity Press). Stiftelsen Åbo Akademi Berges, Sandrine. 2015. A Feminist Perspec Centre of Excellency tive on Virtue Ethics (London: Palgrave BACE. There she works Macmillan). as an ethicist ethno- Bornemark, Jonna. 2018. Det omätbaras renäs graphically participating sans. En uppgörelse med pedanternas världs in a trans-disciplinary herravälde (Stockholm: Volante). research group studying Chu, et al. 2020. ‘Physical distancing, face masks, the functions of cells. and eye protection to prevent person-to- She currently also leads person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the project ‘Forcing the COVID-19: a systematic review and meta- Impossible – Avtryck i det Okända’, which brings analysis’, Lancet, 395: 1973–87, doi:
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 155 peakdag och antal infekterade i covid- Akademi, 24.6.2020,
Approaching Religion • Vol. 10, No. 2 • November 2020 156 and Mary-Jane Rubenstein (New York: can feminists learn about morality from Fordham University Press), 274–98. caring’, in Gender/Body/Knowledge: Femi Saarinen, Esa. 2020. ‘Ajattelun ajattelun ajat- nist Reconstructions of Being and Know telu’, Filosofia ja systeemiajattelu, lec- ing, eds. Alison M. Jaggar and Susan Bordo ture 2, 29.1.2020,
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