On the Politics of Ignorance in Nursing and Health Care

Amélie Perron is Associate Professor in the School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Canada.Trudy Rudge is the Professor of Nursing (Social Sciences and Humanities) at Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, Australia.

• 1. Introduction 2. Ignorance: Current Conceptualisation 3. Ignorance... Knowledge Interrupted 4. Abjection, Taboo and Dangerous Knowledge 5. The (Bio)Politics of Ignorance 6. Ignorance in Nursing: Its Uses and Abuses 7. Conclusion

Perron and Rudge provide an indispensible and clearly articulated work that situates the concept of ignorance in its rightful place as knowledge. The remarkable notion that nurses and others in health care pay attention to what is unknown, silenced, hidden, glossed over, and simply ignored should become an essential—a foundation to practice that is rooted in critical analysis. This is an important book as we head further into the 21st century, where the recognition and acknowledgement of what we do not know may be just the thing that saves humans and the planet. On the Politics of Ignorance in Nursing and Health Care is imperative reading to underpin the framework of any pedagogical, scholarly, clinical, administrative, or activist endeavor. Paula N. Kagan, PhD, RN, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, DePaul University Chicago, USAEditor, Philosophies and Practices of Emancipatory Nursing: Social Justice as Praxis, Routledge, 2014 (with Marlaine C. Smith and Peggy L. Chinn)Perron and Rudge have delivered a provocative and original work. Shining a light on the darkness of ignorance, the authors reveal its uses and its political power in health care policy and practice. An intelligent and penetrating piece of scholarship, this is a book to unsettle the reader's certainties. Be prepared to embrace an ethics of discomfort! Sioban Nelson, Professor, Vice-Provost Academic Programs, Vice-Provost Faculty and Academic Life, University of Toronto, CanadaThis is a remarkable book. It reminds of the importance of doubt, uncertainty and immersion for knowledge. Moving between philosophical insight, sociological theory and empirical example, it offers a unique approach tointerrogating nursing and health care practice. Its insight is to put ignorance centre stage for illuminating the biopolitics of how nurses conduct care. Joanna Latimer, Professor of Sociology, Cardiff Universiy, School of Social Science