Crowdsourcing in Medicine in the Neoliberal Era

This chapter aims to develop a critical analysis of the implications of the emergence of crowdsourcing in medicine in the neoliberal era. The conceptual background underpinning crowdsourcing in medicine will be examined in the first section of this chapter, followed in the second section by identifying what currently appear to be the two main modes of the phenomenon, citizen-based and institutional-based crowdsourcing. This second section will also seek to demonstrate that these phenomena are consistent with certain features of neoliberal culture; more specifically, they may be retraced both to the general crisis of confidence typically triggered by such a cultural paradigm, and to the specific vision of social control offered. The third section will explore the issue of citizen participation in clinical research, taking into consideration the new elements raised by the institutional medical crowdsourcing model. The conclusion will highlight our thesis that one of the dilemmas most symptomatic of the digital turn taken by neoliberal regimes may be found at the heart of the crowdsourcing vision, where the arguments for the protection of individual privacy confront those supporting the transparency of data as a source of social good.