Roundtable workshop: ‘Testing for life? The sociology of diagnosis and screening’, 13-15 June 2018, Monash Prato Centre, Prato, Italy. Program
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This roundtable workshop explored the social constitution of medical testing by addressing the sociocultural, political, legal and ethical forces that have shaped the significant increase in the use of medical tests, both in routine clinical practice and in screening programs. Discussions considered how different healthcare contexts across a range of geographical and political settings shape the meanings attributed to tests—their perceived applications, value and risks. In broad terms, the workshop addressed the contribution of social science to understanding the rise and expansion of diagnostic testing and screening.
A key outcome of the workshop is a forthcoming special issue of Science, Technology & Society, due to be published in 2020. Titled ‘Testing for life?: Emergent regimes of sociotechnical governance’, the special issue addresses the socio-technical, politico-economic and ethical implications of the rise and expansion of testing in healthcare. All the articles are based on papers presented at that event, and we are pleased that many of those who participated chose to contribute since the issues raised at the event are significant, covering terrain often not addressed in the literature on testing in healthcare. We are delighted to also include interviews with two scholars who took part, Professor Annemarie Jutel and Professor David Armstrong, whose work is seminal in the sociology of diagnosis and screening.
