This paper problematises globalisation and the democratisation of the research imagination, highlighting the potentials for harm and good. We do so, first, by exploring two philosophical/epistemological issues: the definition of "knowledge" and the role of "research" in knowledge creation. The paper then considers some of possible consequences of the democratisation of knowledge by examining the case of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and using it to test a heuristic device we have developed as a way of distinguishing between "really useful" and "potentially harmful" knowledges. (Contains 1 table.)