The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the Intersection of Microbes, Ethics, and Society in Africa

Human microbiome research often categorizes populations by race, ethnicity, or lifestyle, reflecting both scientific practices and sociopolitical histories. Microbiome studies examine, among others, transitions from traditional non-Western to Western urban lifestyles and their associated health impacts. While such categories help define study populations, grasp human diversity, and represent especially marginalized groups, they risk oversimplifying complex factors, leading to epistemic errors and ethical concerns like stereotyping or discrimination.

While the field focuses on global scientific goals like global health, possibilities to do research and achieve those goals vary locally. There are still important economic differences between countries in the Global North (and their historical colonial wealth) and those of the Global South (most of them ex-colonies) that translate into current scientific capabilities. These differences are experienced today as economic and infrastructural challenges and dependencies that directly or indirectly have an effect on the epistemic questions asked and the quality of the answers generated.

This interdisciplinary workshop aims to foster academic collaboration, to critically assess these issues and to engage the public in a larger dialogue on (neo-)colonialism in scientific practice.

It is related to a call for abstracts in a special issue.