This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Cambrosio, A. Articles by Weisz, G. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Biomedical Conventions and Regulatory Objectivity

A Few Introductory Remarks

Department of Social Studies of Medicine, McGill University, 3647 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 1X1, alberto.cambrosio{at}mcgill.ca

Peter Keating

Department of History, University of Quebec at Montreal, Case Postale 8888, succursale centre-ville, Montreal, QC, Canada H3C 3P8,, keating.peter{at}uqam.ca

Thomas Schlich

Department of Social Studies of Medicine, McGill University, 3647 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 1X1, thomas.schlich{at}mcgill.ca

George Weisz

Department of Social Studies of Medicine, McGill University, 3647 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 1X1, george.weisz{at}mcgill.ca

This special issue of Social Studies of Science centers on the topic of regulation in medicine and, in particular, on the notion of regulatory objectivity, defined as a new form of objectivity in biomedicine that generates conventions and norms through concerted programs of action based on the use of a variety of systems for the collective production of evidence. The papers in the special issue suggest ways in which the notion of regulatory objectivity can be tested, extended, revised, or superseded by more appropriate notions. They insist on the need to examine more closely clinical-therapeutic (and not just clinical-research) activities, and to pay more attention to the activities of regulatory agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration and to standard-setting organizations. They call attention to the professional and organizational activities surrounding the mobilization of conventions for regulating clinical practices. Finally, they provide material that can help us to think about how analytical notions such as regulatory objectivity may or may not inform interventionist research projects.

Key Words: biomedicine • conventions • objectivity • regulation • standardization

Social Studies of Science, Vol. 39, No. 5, 651-664 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0306312709334640


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?