Adopting vulnerability and power-sensitive pluralism for a pragmatist turn in policy-advice. Impulses from a critical framework of public health

Following the assumption that pragmatism offers an alternative, non-reductionist understanding of evidence or science-based policy-making, we critically examine and reconstruct the preconditions of such a pragmatist turn. We argue that pragmatist theory, in general, lacks an explicit normative found...

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Main Authors: Ana Honnacker, Julian Prugger, Tizia Rosendorfer, Anne Meuche, Michael Reder, Christian Apfelbacher
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Critical Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09581596.2025.2516031
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author Ana Honnacker
Julian Prugger
Tizia Rosendorfer
Anne Meuche
Michael Reder
Christian Apfelbacher
author_facet Ana Honnacker
Julian Prugger
Tizia Rosendorfer
Anne Meuche
Michael Reder
Christian Apfelbacher
author_sort Ana Honnacker
collection DOAJ
description Following the assumption that pragmatism offers an alternative, non-reductionist understanding of evidence or science-based policy-making, we critically examine and reconstruct the preconditions of such a pragmatist turn. We argue that pragmatist theory, in general, lacks an explicit normative foundation for critical value judgements and that it tends to overlook power dynamics and asymmetries in social relations. First, we propose the adoption of vulnerability as a normative guideline. From this perspective, the conflicting differences and power struggles that occur in pluralist societies are highlighted. Second, we argue that accounts of pluralism must involve practices of conflict and politically articulated exclusion. Therefore, we suggest an alternative understanding of pluralism that acknowledges and addresses the underlying social and historical conditions, thereby evading the risk of reproducing established modes of exclusion and the production of vulnerabilities.
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series Critical Public Health
spelling doaj-art-d6edee77de1c42639c117dfd4e08c02f2025-08-20T03:44:58ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCritical Public Health0958-15961469-36822025-12-0135110.1080/09581596.2025.2516031Adopting vulnerability and power-sensitive pluralism for a pragmatist turn in policy-advice. Impulses from a critical framework of public healthAna Honnacker0Julian Prugger1Tizia Rosendorfer2Anne Meuche3Michael Reder4Christian Apfelbacher5Munich School of Philosophy, Munich, GermanyMunich School of Philosophy, Munich, GermanyInstitute of Social Medicine and Health Systems Research, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, GermanyInstitute of Social Medicine and Health Systems Research, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, GermanyMunich School of Philosophy, Munich, GermanyInstitute of Social Medicine and Health Systems Research, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, GermanyFollowing the assumption that pragmatism offers an alternative, non-reductionist understanding of evidence or science-based policy-making, we critically examine and reconstruct the preconditions of such a pragmatist turn. We argue that pragmatist theory, in general, lacks an explicit normative foundation for critical value judgements and that it tends to overlook power dynamics and asymmetries in social relations. First, we propose the adoption of vulnerability as a normative guideline. From this perspective, the conflicting differences and power struggles that occur in pluralist societies are highlighted. Second, we argue that accounts of pluralism must involve practices of conflict and politically articulated exclusion. Therefore, we suggest an alternative understanding of pluralism that acknowledges and addresses the underlying social and historical conditions, thereby evading the risk of reproducing established modes of exclusion and the production of vulnerabilities.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09581596.2025.2516031Public healthpragmatismpluralismvulnerabilitypolicy-advice
spellingShingle Ana Honnacker
Julian Prugger
Tizia Rosendorfer
Anne Meuche
Michael Reder
Christian Apfelbacher
Adopting vulnerability and power-sensitive pluralism for a pragmatist turn in policy-advice. Impulses from a critical framework of public health
Critical Public Health
Public health
pragmatism
pluralism
vulnerability
policy-advice
title Adopting vulnerability and power-sensitive pluralism for a pragmatist turn in policy-advice. Impulses from a critical framework of public health
title_full Adopting vulnerability and power-sensitive pluralism for a pragmatist turn in policy-advice. Impulses from a critical framework of public health
title_fullStr Adopting vulnerability and power-sensitive pluralism for a pragmatist turn in policy-advice. Impulses from a critical framework of public health
title_full_unstemmed Adopting vulnerability and power-sensitive pluralism for a pragmatist turn in policy-advice. Impulses from a critical framework of public health
title_short Adopting vulnerability and power-sensitive pluralism for a pragmatist turn in policy-advice. Impulses from a critical framework of public health
title_sort adopting vulnerability and power sensitive pluralism for a pragmatist turn in policy advice impulses from a critical framework of public health
topic Public health
pragmatism
pluralism
vulnerability
policy-advice
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09581596.2025.2516031
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