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Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Thinking Differently about HIV/AIDS

Contributions from Critical Social Science

Almost four decades after the discovery of HIV/AIDS, the world continues to grapple with this public health challenge. Thinking Differently about HIV/AIDS explores the limits of mainstream approaches to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and challenges readers to develop alternate solutions, emphasizing the value of critical social science perspectives. The contributors investigate traditions of inquiry – governmentality studies, institutional ethnography, and Indigenous knowledges, among others – to determine what these perspectives can bring to HIV/AIDS research, policy, and programming. Ultimately, this book demonstrates how and why critical social science is necessary for rethinking research and action required to address the epidemic.

372 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2019


Table of Contents

Introduction: Knowing and Responding to HIV/AIDS Differently / Eric Mykhalovskiy and Viviane Namaste

Part 1: Critical Dispositions

1 On the Possibility of Being Governed Otherwise: Exploring Foucault’s Legacy for Critical Social Science Studies in the Field of HIV/AIDS / Adrian Guta and Stuart J. Murray

2 Tracking Treatment Adherence: Should Critical Social Scientific Accounts of HIV Theorize Non-Human Actants? / Martin French

3 Institutional Ethnography as a Critical Research Strategy: Access, Engagement, and Implications for HIV/AIDS Research / Daniel Grace

4 Conversation Analysis and Critical Social Science: The Interactional Organization of HIV-Positive Disclosures / Jeffrey P. Aguinaldo

5 Indigenous Knowing in HIV Research in Canada: A Reflexive Dialogue / Randy Jackson

Part 2: Empirical Case Studies

6 Thinking Critically about HIV Prevention for Gay and Bisexual Men / Barry D. Adam

7 Undetectable Optimism: The Science of Gay Male Sexual Risk-Taking and Serosorting in the Context of Uncertain Knowledge of Viral Load / Mark Gaspar

8 A Critical Case-Study Analysis of the Logic and Practices of Prescribing HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to At-Risk Adolescents / Chris Sanders, Jill Owczarzak and Andrew Petroll

9 The Social Relations of Disclosure: Critical Reflections on the Community-Based Response to HIV Criminalization / Colin Hastings

10 Epidemiology, the Media, and Vancouver’s Public Health Emergency: A Critical Ethnography / Denielle Elliott

Conclusion / Viviane Namaste and Eric Mykhalovskiy

List of Contributors; Index

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