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AbstractIn the most recent decade, translational research (TR) has played a pivotal role in the production and circulation of medical knowledge and technologies, thus redefining biomedicine's moral force, its cultural authority, and its status in society. As a major component of contemporary life sciences, TR—or more commonly, translational biomedicine—aims to transfer more quickly and effectively the findings of basic science into therapeutic interventions for patients by means of innovative organisational arrangements, research methodologies, protocols, and professional roles. This article brings together sociological research examining translational biomedicine from different perspectives to accomplish two goals. First, it offers a comprehensive introduction to the social science debate concerning the growing adoption of a TR framework in biomedicine, with a special focus on the organisational, professional, and epistemological issues. Second, the article has an operational purpose to raise questions about the main methodological repercussions for social scientists facing the investigation of TR as a complex and multi‐sited phenomenon that challenges traditional qualitative/quantitative research approaches.

This open access book explores contemporary practices that challenge science, arguing that this matter cannot be simply disregarded as a new manifestation of "anti-scientism". It scrutinizes the processes through which knowledge claims, refused by established institutions and the scientific community, seek legitimacy. Assuming an agnostic analytical stance, it explores the actors involved in such processes and their social worlds, their interactions with epistemic institutions, and the ways in which they enact such refused knowledge in their daily lives. Drawing on a three-year mixed-method research project, this collection demonstrates how refused knowledge can be seen as a distinct mode of knowing, employed in response to the uncertainties of everyday life. Thus, it offers a deeper understanding not only of how refused knowledge garners credibility, but also of how knowledge at large – including scientific knowledge – emerges from specific sociotechnical assemblages.

1 Introduction: Manufacturing Knowledge at the Border of Science - Stefano Crabu, Federico Neresini, Maria Carmela Agodi, and Simone Tosoni -- 2 Can We Look at Refused Knowledge Differently? - Federico Neresini -- 3 Embracing Refused Knowledge: The Turning Processes - Paolo Volonté -- 4 Us and Them: Martyrs, Prophets and Mythic Narratives of Refused Knowledge - Paolo Bory -- 5 From Scientific to Syncretic Patchwork Storytelling: The Discursive Ecosystem of Italian Stop 5G Refused Knowledge Communities - Simone Tosoni -- 6 Disentangling Discursive Spaces of Knowledge Refused by Science: An Analysis of the Epistemic Structures in the Narratives Repertoires on Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic - Ilenia Picardi, Luca Serafini, and Marco Serino -- 7 Challenging the Institutional Politics of Life in the Making of Refused Knowledge - Stefano Crabu -- 8 "This is the real face of Covid-19!": How Refused Knowledge Communities Entered the Pandemic Arena - Barbara Morsello, Federico Neresini, and Maria Carmela Agodi -- 9 Do the Media Refuse Refused Knowledge? - Paolo Giardullo -- 10 Respecifying Fieldwork: Refused Knowledge Communities Explored Through the Reflexive Lens - Barbara Morsello -- 11 Conclusion: Is It Really Possible to Take the Floor (Agnostically) About Refused Knowledge? - Federico Neresini and Stefano Crabu.