Between activism and entrepreneurship: Challenging epistemic authority through pharmaceutical peer production

Bianca Jansky, Shane O’Donnell, Henriette Langstrup and Muireann Quigley

Chapter 13 in Handbook of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Studies, 2026, pp 213-227 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In this chapter, we examine how some people have become more than mere users of pharmaceuticals, thereby challenging epistemic authority within medicine. We explore how individuals with various health conditions conduct their own pharmaceutical research and develop medical innovations. Our analysis is organized around three areas within Science and Technology Studies (STS). First, we consider “n=1” self-experimentation as a form of healthcare participation. Second, we discuss how knowledge from self-experimentation can be assembled into a collective knowledge base and move from the margins to the scientific mainstream. Third, we focus on emergent collective alternative therapeutic imaginaries that are not only about self-experimentation but also about production and provisioning for the wider community. We draw on three cases of pharmaceutical peer production: experimental helminth therapy, the use of psychedelics for neurological conditions, and distributed insulin production. The chapter outlines the conceptual resources STS offers for interpreting these new forms of knowledge production and provisioning. We conclude by reflecting on how pharmaceutical peer production may challenge existing knowledge structures and hierarchies, but at the same time bring to light ethical questions on a range of issues.

Keywords: Peer production; Epistemic authority; Patient knowledge; Patient activism; Participation in healthcare; Innovation in chronic health conditions and care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035338443
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035338450.00023 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23545_14

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().