Mathieu Quet

Mathieu Quet is a French sociologist, research director at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), and a member of the Centre Population et Développement (Ceped) at Université Paris Cité. His research intersects the sociology of science and technology with global studies, focusing particularly on technological development in the Global South.

His investigations primarily examine the circulation of pharmaceuticals between different regions of the world, particularly between India and Kenya. He has also studied market logistics infrastructures and the ways in which knowledge and technology shape relationships between states, corporations, and populations in a globalized context.

He has led several international research projects, including AniPharm, funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). This project documents pharmaceutical uses related to animal life in the Indian Ocean, exploring the links between human, animal, and environmental health. As part of this research, he has specifically analyzed the use of snake venom and the production of antivenoms in India. Since 2020, he has also been involved in organizing the seminar "Technoscientific Globalization from Below," which focuses on the globalization of technical goods from the perspective of non-hegemonic countries and often marginalized actors.

This research program contributes to a better understanding of technoscientific globalization, particularly the global dynamics of health and technological regulation, by highlighting tensions between local practices and international standards.

The project

Title: Slithering Cures. Snakes and Venoms in South India. Giving Shape to the Multiple Conceptions of Snakes and Their Venom.

"Slithering Cures is a traveling exhibition that explores the diverse perceptions of snakes and their venom. It sheds light on the experiences of envenomation victims, the analyses of biologists and herpetologists, the role of pharmaceutical industries in the production of antivenom serums, and the expertise of marginalized communities specializing in venom collection for industrial use.

By bringing together these various actors in a collaborative investigation and restitution process (through objects, images, and sounds), the project seeks to make tangible the interactions between humans, animals, and the environment. It also aims to highlight the often-overlooked contributions of certain groups, particularly Adivasi communities in India and animal populations, within industrial societies.

Led by an international and multidisciplinary team, the project integrates expertise from molecular biology to anthropology, as well as visual arts and scenography."

Institution: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)

Selected publications

• Quet M., Kameda K., Pourraz J., Rault-Chodankar Y.-M. Technoscientific Globalization from Below, Mattering Press, 2025
• Quet M. Flux. Comment la pensée logistique gouverne le monde, La Découverte/Zones, 2022
• Quet M. Illicit Medicines in the Global South: Public Health Access and Pharmaceutical Regulation, Routledge, 2021 (expanded English translation of Impostures pharmaceutiques)
• Quet M. Impostures pharmaceutiques. Médicaments illicites et conflits pour l’accès à la santé, La Découverte (Les empêcheurs de penser en rond collection), 2018