Short Abstract

This roundtable brings STS debates up-to-date with developments in the pharmaceutical sector by introducing a novel contribution in the form of The Handbook of Global Pharmaceuticals and Society Studies. Key themes across the Handbook, and alternative resilient pharmaceutical futures are explored.

Description

Pharmaceuticals have long been an object of critical STS inquiry. As sources of biopower, they are wielded to promote health, life-prolongation, bodily enhancement, and social control. Moreover, as the key assets of a globalized industry, pharmaceuticals constitute a mini cosmos for exploring overarching issues in STS of innovation, infrastructure, assetization and inequities.

Aiming to bring STS debates up-to-date with developments in the pharmaceutical sector, this roundtable introduces a novel contribution in the form of The Handbook of Global Pharmaceuticals and Society Studies. The Handbook is newly published by Edward Elgar Publishing (2026) as part of a Research Handbooks in Science and Technology Studies series edited by Dominique Vinck. Bringing together a range of different perspectives from established and emerging scholars from over twenty different countries, it offers a comprehensive exploration of the pharmaceutical sector in the Global North, South, East and West, including recent developments in pharmaceutical production, manufacturing, market making, governance, and everyday (mis)use. In line with the conference theme of “More than now: Exploring Resilient Futures”, the Handbook also seeks map possible ways for alternative futures harnessing the biopower of pharmaceuticals for health in a solidary fashion.

Professor Vinck will introduce the handbook series and develop the genesis and motivation for this specific Handbook. Key developments and cross-cutting analytical themes will be discussed by editorial team lead Conor Douglas and three of the contributors (to be decided).

The editorial team (Conor Douglas, Susi Geiger, Tineke Kleinhout-Vliek, Paul Martin and Sarah Wadmann) will offer an overview of the contents and key themes of the Handbook, and sketch how the Handbook works to set the agenda for future research on pharma. Selected authors provide key insights from their work, and highlight the importance of the Handbook for STS work in this area.