Addressing antimicrobial resistance requires inputs from across the academy. Social researchers are contributing in a range of ways to understanding and responding to AMR, and in so-doing are opening up spaces for interpreting the ways AMR knowledge and action are co-constructed. The application of social theory to AMR has the potential to enrichen our repertoire of responses to this complex issue.

This symposium brings together researchers who are attending to ‘the social’ in AMR, including anthropologists, sociologists, historians, geographers, artists, philosophers, science and technology studies scholars and other related researchers. While many are engaged in productive interdisciplinary work within their every day research, this symposium presents an opportunity for concentration on disciplinary work within the social sciences and humanities.

Formulated as a work-in-progress event, attendees will exchange ideas about approaches and theory that have been developed and applied in their on-going social research on AMR. Presentations and discussions will focus on four themes, which have been described by the Antimicrobials In Society Hub as ways to link together core literature and theory that can be applied to AMR: Care; Ecologies; Pharmaceuticals and Markets; and Knowledge.