Paper short abstract:

This paper considers Chinese-manufactured antibiotics as scientific and neoliberal commodities and shares the experience of tracing them by attending online trade fairs. It explores how the ‘digital frontier’ of pharmaceuticals transform virtual space and labor in the global commodity chain.

Paper long abstract:

A frontier is a zone beyond which further expansion and forward movement is possible in the capitalist system. Traditional commodity frontiers such as plantations have been profoundly transformative of space and labor. This paper considers Chinese-manufactured antibiotic drugs and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) as scientific and neoliberal commodities circulating across the globe. It discusses how pharmaceutical commodities are advertised and promoted on a Chinese digital trade fair. In recent years, online trade fairs and networks have become an indispensable commercial infrastructure to facilitate the transnational flow of Chinese-manufactured antibiotic drugs and APIs, especially during the pandemic. By showcasing their products online and networking with potential foreign buyers through online platforms, Chinese pharmaceutical companies carve out what I call a ‘digital frontier’ of pharmaceuticals. Taking inspirations from the literature of traditional commodity frontiers, this paper focuses on how such ‘digital frontier’ transform virtual space and the forms of labor involved in the global commodity chains of pharmaceuticals. By sharing the experience of attending online trade fairs, this paper also reflects on the challenges faced by anthropologists engaging in active fieldwork during the pandemic, the potentials for taking advantage of the digital platforms available to conduct ethnographic research, and the possibilities of methodological innovations in the anthropological study of antibiotics.