Challenging the biomedical monopolies of knowledge: A case study of PharmaWatch

This thesis examines the emergence of pharmaceutical safety advocacy groups in contestation to biomedical knowledge monopolies. It questions: how can a pharmaceutical safety advocacy group influence change in a society dominated by biomedical monopolies of knowledge? To inform this question, historical ideas of monopolies of knowledge and expertise are discussed in their application to biomedical practices and the emergence of advocacy groups. A case study of the pharmaceutical safety advocacy group, PharrnaWatch is presented to explain why and how they, along with other advocacy groups employ epistemological and political strategies to resist the dominance of pharmaceutical knowledge systems.