Page 170 - alligood 8th edition_Neat

CHAPTER 10 Kari Martinsen 151

researcher at Bergen Deaconess University College, 1938); and French philosopher and phenomenologist
Bergen, and from 2006 as an Adjunct Professor. of the body Merleau-Ponty (1908 to 1961). Later, she
From 1999 to 2004, she was Adjunct Professor at broadened her theoretical sources to include other
Lovisenberg Deaconess University College in Oslo. philosophers, theologians, and sociologists.
In 2007, she became a full-time professor at Harstad
University College in northern Norway. Karl Marx: Critical Analysis—
Ideas and academic ventures sprouted and flour- A Transformative Practice
ished easily around Martinsen, and she drew others Marxist philosophy gave Martinsen some analytical
into academic projects. She edited a collection of arti- tools to describe the reality of the discipline of nurs-
cles which several nursing college teachers contributed ing and the social crisis in which it found itself. The
to, called The Thoughtful Nurse (Martinsen, 1993a). crisis consisted of the failure of the discipline to
Lovisenberg Deaconess University College in Oslo, with examine and recognize its nature as fragmented,
Martinsen’s assistance, took the initiative to publish a specialized, and technically calculating, as it pretends
new edition of the first Norwegian nursing textbook, a holistic perspective on care. She found that the
which was originally published in 1877 (Nissen, 2000). discipline was part of positivism and the capitalist
In this edition, Martinsen (2000a) wrote an afterword, system, without praxis of liberation. A “reversed
placing the text within a context of academic nursing. care–law” rules in such a way that those who need
With a colleague in Oslo, Martinsen edited another care most receive the least. Karl Marx criticized indi-
collection of articles by the editors and college lecturers vidualism and the satisfaction of the needs of the rich
for a book, published as Ethics, Discipline and Refine- at the expense of the poor. Martinsen’s view is that it
ment: Elizabeth Hagemann’s Ethics Book—New Readings is important to expose this phenomenon when it
(Martinsen & Wyller, 2003). This book provides an occurs in health service. Such exposure of this reality
analysis of a text on ethics for nurses published in 1930 can be a force for change. She maintains that we must
and used as a textbook until 1965. When the ethics text question the nature of nursing, its content and inner
was republished in 2003, it was interpreted in the light structure, its historical origins, and the genesis of the
of two French philosophers, Pierre Bourdieu (1930 to profession. This questioning results in a critical nurs-
2002) and Michel Foucault (1926 to 1984), as well as the ing practice as the practitioner views her occupation
German sociologist Max Weber (1864 to 1920). In and profession in a historical and social context.
2012, together with colleagues at Harstad University Martinsen’s historical interest has a critical and trans-
College, Martinsen published a book about narratives formative intention.
and ethics in nursing (Thorsen, Mæhre, & Martinsen,
2012). Edmund Husserl: Phenomenology as the
Thus historical and philosophical threads are each Natural Attitude
present in different phases of Martinsen’s thought, Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology is important
and they color her work differently during the differ- for Martinsen’s critiques of science and positivism.
ent periods. In 2011, Martinsen was made Knight, Positivism’s view of the self lies in its attitude of objec-
First Class, of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav tification and a dehumanizing and calculating attitude
for her very significant work, thought, and authorship toward the person. Husserl viewed phenomenology as
in nursing science. a strict science. The strict methodological processes
of phenomenology produce an attitude of composed
reflection over our scientific reality, so that we may
Theoretical Sources uncover structures and contexts within which we oth-
What is Martinsen’s theoretical background? In her erwise perform taken-for-granted and unconscious
analysis of the profession of nursing in the early 1970s, work. This practice is about making the taken-for-
Martinsen looked to three philosophers in particular: granted problematic. By problematizing taken-for-
German philosopher, politician, and social theorist granted self-understanding, we find opportunities
Karl Marx (1818 to 1883); German philosopher and to grasp “the thing itself,” which will always reveal
founder of phenomenology Edmund Husserl (1859 to itself perspectively. Phenomenology works with the