The Dominion of Bioethics

Abstract This chapter provides a case study of the relationships between bioethics and the project and pitfalls of nation-building, raising crucial questions about the influence of history, culture, and politics on the enterprise of bioethics. It focuses on Canadian bioethics, which is preoccupied with questions of national identity and unique cultural meaning. Anxiety over what defines a Canadian and what makes Canada unique as a nation is fueled by perceived external and internal challenges to a coherent national identity, such as American popular culture and political influence, and Quebec nationalism.