Towards an integrative approach to “the” experimental subject
Laura Schnieder
Experimental subjects in clinical pharmaceutical research seem to be constantly meandering
between mere (bio-)"thing-ness", as mediators in an experimental system, and various (bio-)
subjectivities e.g. the potential consumer, the team member in creating an innovative study
design, and the informed, responsible patient. While most social scientists problematizing the
role of the experimental subject in clinical research today tend to either stress processes of
objectivation OR subjectivation (and/or depict a rather solid demarcation line between the two)
I aim to suggest an integrative theoretical approach. Its first part, tying together the notions of
the “technical thing”, the “bio-object” and the “homo sacer” among other accounts, will be the
basis for the WiP-discussion.