Ecologies of resistance: The biosocial worlds of antibiotics

Joyce Sauann Lu and Omar Dewachi

Chapter 29 in Handbook of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Studies, 2026, pp 469-488 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter explores the complex biosocial dynamics of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), situating antibiotics as key mediators of health across ecological, economic, and socio-political landscapes. Moving beyond the narrow view of AMR as a purely microbial phenomenon, the chapter traces how antibiotics traverse global markets, impact human and animal bodies, and interact with environmental conditions shaped by conflict, industrialization, and public health policy. Using Science and Technology Studies frameworks, this chapter examines AMR through three lenses: markets, embodiments, and ecosystems. Together, these perspectives reveal AMR to be a consequence of entangled economic, environmental, and political forces, highlighting the need for a more integrated, ecosystems-based approach to public health that considers antibiotics within their biosocial lives.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; AMR; Antibiotics; Biosocial relations; Human–microbial interactions; Multispecies ecology; One health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035338443
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