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Through case studies of three medicaments: opium (late 19th to early 20th century), thalidomide (late 1950s to early 1960s) and contraception (1970s to 2010s), we explore the intertwining of pharmaceutical regulation, provision and consumption. Our focus is on the modernist imperative towards the rationalisation of pharmaceutical oversight, as an extension of the state\u2019s bureaucratic and ideological objectives, and, importantly, as its obligation. We also explore adaptive and illicit uses of medicines, both by purveyors of pharmaceuticals, and among consumers. The historical sweep of our study allows for an analysis of continuities and changes in pharmaceutical governance. The focus on South Africa highlights how the concept of pharmacopolitics can usefully be extended to transnational\u2014as well as local\u2014medical histories. Through the diversity of our sources, and the breadth of their chronology, we aim to historicise modern pharmaceutical practices in South Africa, from the late colonial era to the Post-Apartheid present.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/medhum-2018-011478","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,27]],"date-time":"2018-11-27T10:14:06Z","timestamp":1543313646000},"page":"253-262","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Pharmaceuticals and modern statecraft in South Africa: the cases of opium, thalidomide and contraception."],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"44","author":[{"given":"Julie","family":"Parle","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebecca","family":"Hodes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AIDS and Society Research Unit, Centre for Social Science Research, Institute for the Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thembisa","family":"Waetjen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"History, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025092412464780000_44.4.253.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/medhum-2015-010692"},{"key":"2025092412464780000_44.4.253.2","unstructured":"Dubow S . 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