Paper short abstract:

Science is politics by other means not only in the forming of collectives but when conceptions of the good life are at stake. In pharmaceutical companies’ uses of science to market its products, science is often a resource to change views of health, vitality and disease.

Paper long abstract:

The most prominent studies of "science as politics by other means" invoke politics in which collectives are formed, reshaped or divided. I focus here on politics in which conceptions of and approaches to the good life are at stake. In pharmaceutical companies' uses of science to market its products, science can become a resource to change views of health, vitality and disease, at levels of both individuals and the state. This is so even when the new alliances between humans and non-humans being promised are highly dubious, as in escalating politics of hopes and fears. The ability of science to identify new sources of power is so well accepted by interested publics that it can be successful even when role played by "science" is obscure and its targets familiar. Interestingly, in such cases, politics by other means require healthy doses of politics by the same means.