ANTHRO 128B Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Schizophrenia, Hydralazine, Identity Politics
How do laypersons influence scientific knowledge production
and practices?
Why is it important to understand the circuits of knowledge
between laypersons and experts?
Scientists are influenced by social and cultural context
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When we learn about nature, we learn about cultural beliefs and practices as if they are nature
-
Scientific studies have been used to pass laws and create policies
-
Stakeholders should participate in science because they bring different assumptions which can
generate new knowledge
-
Science/society
Beginning in 1980s, reformers argued that biomedical knowledge-making was exclusionary,
homogenizing, and a one size fits all approach
-
Concerned about health disparities, they advocated for an approach
-
How do laypersons influence scientific knowledge and practices?
Reformers questioned idea of standard human in biomedical research
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Argued that every group deserves biomedical attention
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Social differences are medically meaningful
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Disadvantaged groups (minorities, prisoners, orphans, patients, and the poor); so no
○
Where only middle aged males research subjects?
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Conventional wisdom
○
The standard human as white male was true in some areas of medical research
-
Standard human = middle aged white male
Challenged this idea of the standard human
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Insisted that researchers test for differences across populations
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Argued for the inclusion of more women, people of color, children, and elderly
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Portrayed social groups as bodily
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Who should be a research subject?
A series of federal laws, policies, and guidelines require or encourage research inclusiveness and
the measurement of difference
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Creation of bureaucratic offices
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Inclusion and difference paradigm
Reformers assumed that the categories of identity politics, the biological categories of medical
research, and social classifications of state bureaucracies were all one and the same system of
categorization
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Assumed social categories used in political organizing are also the best
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Categorical alignment
Practices of governance and scientific investigation have become interwoven
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How concern about health, medicine, and the body
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Biopolitical paradigm
3/2/18
Friday, March 2, 2018
10:59 AM
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Document Summary
Scientists are influenced by social and cultural context. When we learn about nature, we learn about cultural beliefs and practices as if they are nature. Scientific studies have been used to pass laws and create policies. Stakeholders should participate in science because they bring different assumptions which can generate new knowledge. Beginning in 1980s, reformers argued that biomedical knowledge-making was exclusionary, homogenizing, and a one size fits all approach. Concerned about health disparities, they advocated for an approach. Reformers questioned idea of standard human in biomedical research. Disadvantaged groups (minorities, prisoners, orphans, patients, and the poor); so no. The standard human as white male was true in some areas of medical research. Insisted that researchers test for differences across populations. Argued for the inclusion of more women, people of color, children, and elderly. A series of federal laws, policies, and guidelines require or encourage research inclusiveness and the measurement of difference.
