Ayahuasca, Psychedelic Studies and Health Sciences: The Politics of Knowledge and Inquiry into an Amazonian Plant Brew

Summary

Ayahuasca's diverse representations—ranging from "plant teacher" to illicit drug—shape its study in medicine and sociology. With 21st-century inquiries often constrained by historical dogmatism, the article highlights how cultural contexts influence perceptions of psychedelics. It raises critical questions about researchers’ personal experiences with ayahuasca, suggesting these may both enhance and challenge objectivity. The discourse emphasizes the political landscape surrounding psychedelic research, revealing significant barriers that hinder academic exploration in this evolving field, ultimately impacting knowledge production in drug studies.

Abstract

This article offers critical sociological and philosophical reflections on ayahuasca and other psychedelics as objects of research in medicine, health and human sciences. It situates 21st century scientific inquiry on ayahuasca in the broader context of how early modern European social trends and intellectual pursuits translated into new forms of empiricism and experimental philosophy, but later evolved into a form of dogmatism that convenienced the political suppression of academic inquiry into psychedelics. Applying ideas from the field of science and technology studies, we consider how ayahuasca's myriad ontological representations in the 21st century--for example, plant teacher, traditional medicine, religious sacrament, material commodity, cognitive tool, illicit drug--influence our understanding of it as an object of inquiry. We then explore epistemological issues related to ayahuasca studies, including how the indigenous and mestizo concept of "plant teacher" or the more instrumental notion of psychedelics as "cognitive tools" may impact understanding of knowledge. This leads to questions about whether scientists engaged in ayahuasca research should be expected to have personal experiences with the brew, and how these may be perceived to help or hinder the objectivity of their pursuits. We conclude with some brief reflections on the politics of psychedelic research and impediments to academic knowledge production in the field of psychedelic studies.

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