Abstract
This paper explores the politics of medicine illuminated in the studies of Medical Sociology and Science, Technology and Society Studies. Drawing on those researches, this paper not only specifies three modes of societal, epistemic and ontological politics, but also proposes an agenda for studying the ontological politics of local medical regimes. It is argued, first, that in the societal critiques of the invasion of medicine into social life, medicine is identified as the method, field and tool for social struggles. Second, in the epistemic politics of technoscientific governance and public understanding of science, the contested claims by both experts and lay people are symmetrically treated so as to investigate the differences of epistemic framings and the values of the various stake holders. Third, the ontological politics approach explores heterogeneous medicosocial practices. It emphasizes how the linkages made between the constitution of reality, the condition of possibility of our coexistence and our interventions enact the differences specific modes of existence and value. Finally, this paper proposes to extend the scope of the ontological politics approach with regime analysis for studying local medical regimes and practices.