Critical Doses: Nurturing Diversity in Psychedelic Studies
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews January 1, 2023 Christine Hauskeller, Claudia Gertraud Schwarz 13 citations
The authors argue that the current excitement around the biomedical use of psychedelic substances requires diverse critical analyses from the social sciences and humanities. Such analyses can resist appropriation and support community-based ethical practices. The articles and book reviews in this thematic issue show the urgency of developing psychedelic cultures outside the medico-pharmaceutical complex, offering inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives. Critical psychedelic studies challenge colonizing knowledge practices in historical and contemporary psychedelic discourse. The authors reflect on power relations in the psychedelic revival, arguing against fixed field definitions and in favor of flexible formations of consciousness and praxis. They provide ideas for deconstructing patriarchal colonial legacies and contemporary power dynamics focused on wealth creation.