Coveney, Catherine (2011) Cognitive enhancement? Exploring modafinil use in social context. Advances in Medical Sociology, Vol.13 - Sociological Reflections on the Neurosciences . pp. 203-228. doi:10.1108/S1057-6290(2011)0000013013

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Abstract

This chapter takes the ‘wakefulness promoting’ drug modafinil as an exemplarity case in the sociology of pharmaceutical enhancement. The chapter draws on empirical data collected through 25 interviews with prospective users of modafinil, focusing on two of the ways in which prospective users of modafinil imagined how the drug might be used in their specific social domains: the use of modafinil as a safety tool in the workplace and its use as a study aid by university students. The data presented in this chapter suggests that although a therapy-enhancement dichotomy is a useful heuristic; it could also be limiting to uphold as it may direct attention away from other ways in which uses for new technologies can be positioned, negotiated, realised and resisted by (potential) users in the context of their daily lives.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Journal or Publication Title:	Advances in Medical Sociology
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN:	1057-6290
Book Title:	Sociological Reflections on the Neurosciences
Editor:	Pickersgill, Martyn and Van Keulen, Ira
Official Date:	2011
Dates:	Date Event 2011 Published
Volume:	Vol.13 - Sociological Reflections on the Neurosciences
Number of Pages:	26
Page Range:	pp. 203-228
DOI:	10.1108/S1057-6290(2011)0000013013
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

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