Drug regimens in Southern Africa: pharmaceutical regulation and consumption in 20th century contexts

We will build a collaborative network of scholars working on 20th century histories of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals, medicinal substances, narcotics, and veterinary medicines in Southern Africa. We will draft and review research papers on pharmaceutical histories in Southern Africa which will constitute a special edition of a peer-reviewed journal. We want to draw the attention of historians to lesser known sources of data for writing pharmaceutical histories in this region and produce and disseminate new research that will expand the critical, contextual basis for studies of pharmaceuticals in the field of medical humanities.

We will establish a working group for the pharmaceutical humanities made up of interdisciplinary scholars from universities in South Africa. We will hold a workshop at the University of Johannesburg and introduce participants to two local archives relevant to pharmaceutical histories in this region.