Robert Ariss - activist and academic - had a unique vision of HIV/AIDS. As an HIV seropositive individual for many years before his death on May 9, 1994, he was a full participant in, and critic of, the development of the gay community's response to the HIV epidemic both in Australia and internationally. Though Ariss' life is a definite presence in this study, Against Death: The Practice of Living with AIDS is not an autobiography. Instead, it is a unique and critical account of a public health crisis, a community's response, and the politics of sexuality. It was in Sydney, Australia, world-famous for its Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, that Robert Ariss lived and worked. It is his vision of that community - of its members infected with and affected by HIV - which is documented in this remarkable anthropological study. Yet the study's implications reach beyond Sydney to all communities living with HIV and AIDS.

Nancy Stoller records how the poor, people of color, gay men and lesbians, drug users, and women have built social movements to fight the impact of AIDS, revealing that organizational structure and culture have a greater impact on who is served and how than do public health theories or official organizational goals. She draws on ethnographic research and the words of the activists themselves, as well as the literature of social movements and theories of bureaucracy. In addition to the stories of the organizational strategies, the book offers guidelines for dealing with diversity and conflict with both theoretical and practical perspectives on cross-community and international organizing.

Nancy Stoller records how the poor, people of colour, gay men and lesbians, drug users, and women have built social movements to fight the impact of AIDS. This study reveals that organizational structure and culture have a greater impact on who is served and how, than public health theories or official organizational goals. Nancy Stoller draws on ethnographic research and the words of the activists themselves, as well as the literature of social movements and theories of bureaucracy. In addition to accounts of organizational strategies, the book offers guidelines for dealing with diversity and conflict with both theoretical and practical perspectives on cross-community and international organizing.

With research based on focus groups and individual interviews in the United States, as well as a thorough and integrative review of the current literature, Latino Gay Men and HIV discusses the six main sociocultural factors in Latino communities - machismo, homophobia, family cohesion, sexual silence, poverty and racism - which undermine safe sex practices. In an attempt to explain the alarmingly high incidence of unprotected intercourse in this population, this in-depth cultural and psychological analysis shows how an apparent incongruence between knowledge or intention and behaviour can possess its own sociocultural logic and meaning.

From the start of the HIV epidemic, the psychological and social aspects of the AIDS infection have been recognized. What could have been regarded simply as an infectious disease was soon acknowledged as a global problem that raised important issues about its transmission and prevention: economic, ethical and legal questions regarding the mental health consequences and the need for access to medical and social care. This volume contains a selection of key contributions to the discussion on the psychological and social implications of HIV infection. It contains authoritative papers by senior practitioners and researchers in the field of the psychological and social aspects of HIV infection. The book should appeal to those involved in providing care for people with HIV infection as well as those involved in preventing the spread of the HIV infection.

From the start of the AIDS epidemic there have been calls for greater solidarity between affected groups and communities, and public health services. This can be seen both in the move towards healthy alliances in health service work, and in the demands of AIDS activists worldwide. This text brings together specially selected papers addressing these and related themes given at the Eighth Conference on Social Aspects of AIDS held in London in late 1995. Among the issues examined are profession and policy; the heightened vulnerability of groups such as women and younger gay men; and issues of drug use, disability and HIV prevention.

From the start of the AIDS epidemic there have been calls for greater solidarity between affected groups and communities, and public health services. This can be seen both in the move towards healthy alliances in health service work, and in the demands of AIDS activists worldwide. This text brings together specially selected papers addressing these and related themes given at the Eighth Conference on Social Aspects of AIDS held in London in late 1995. Among the issues examined are profession and policy; the heightened vulnerability of groups such as women and younger gay men; and issues of drug use, disability and HIV prevention.

How sexual risk is negotiated betwen partners is an area of considerable theoretical interest, with the dominant models of analysis focusing on individual decisions to engage in sexual behaviour and relying on "rational" decision-making. This work, based on the findings from work co-ordinated by the Centre d'Etudes Sociologiques in Brussels, offers a social critique of the theories and perspectives which have currently been brought to bear in the study of sexual risk behaviour and HIV. Leading European researchers offers a conceptual framework for analysis based on sexual interactions and their social context. The practical relevance of new perspectives on sexual behaviour in the context of HIV/AIDS prevention is also discussed.

How sexual risk is negotiated betwen partners is an area of considerable theoretical interest, with the dominant models of analysis focusing on individual decisions to engage in sexual behaviour and relying on "rational" decision-making. This work, based on the findings from work co-ordinated by the Centre d'Etudes Sociologiques in Brussels, offers a social critique of the theories and perspectives which have currently been brought to bear in the study of sexual risk behaviour and HIV. Leading European researchers offers a conceptual framework for analysis based on sexual interactions and their social context. The practical relevance of new perspectives on sexual behaviour in the context of HIV/AIDS prevention is also discussed.

This international collection examines a wide range of psycho-social aspects of AIDS and HIV infection, including prevention, education, healthcare and policy in terms of gender challenges.

This international collection examines a wide range of psycho-social aspects of AIDS and HIV infection, including prevention, education, healthcare and policy in terms of gender challenges.

"Adelman and Frey take advantage of every opportunity to leave their audience with a splendid reading experience that will prompt one to think about community and communication in new and exciting ways. And as it should be, the reader also will not soon forget the echoes of the voices of the ordinary, but remarkable, men and women who inspired the work -- the residents who live and have lived in the fragile community at BH". -- Journal of Health Communication

This book examines the concept of "community", focusing on how communication practices help manage the tensions of creating and sustaining everyday communal life amidst the crisis of human loss. While acknowledging how the contradictory and inconsistent nature of human relationships inevitably affects community, this intimate and compelling text shows how community is created and sustained in concrete communication practices.

The authors explore these ideas at Bonaventure House, an award-winning residential facility for people with AIDS, where the web of social relationships and the demands of a life-threatening illness intersect in complex ways. Facing a life-threatening illness can defy meaningful social connections, but it can also inspire such ties, sometimes in ways that elude us in the course of daily life. By understanding how collective communication practices help residents forge a sense of community out of the fragility and chaos f living together with AIDS, we are able to better understand how communication is inexorably intertwined with the formation of community in other environments.

Based on seven years of ethnographic research including participant-observation, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires, thisbook weaves together narratives and visual images with conceptual analysis to uncover the ongoing oppositional forces of community life, and to show how both mundane and profound communication processes ameliorate these tensions, and thereby sustain this fragile community. Because the average length of stay for a resident is seven months -- in which time he or she moves from being a newcomer to a community member to someone the community remembers -- the text reflects this short, but crystallized life, starting with the day a new resident opens the door to the day he or she passes away.

The writing is very rich -- intimate, engaging, personal, compelling, and vivid. The stories told discuss such deeply personal topics as the dilemmas of romantic relationships in a context fraught with many perils; issues of power, authority, and control that enable and constrain social life; and communicative practices that help residents cope with bereavement over the loss of others as well as their own impending deaths. The text concludes by examining the lessons learned from Bonaventure House about creating and sustaining a health community, and serves as an inspiration for strengthening interpersonal relationships and communities in other environments.

What has been the impact of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases on the lives of young people? Youth, AIDS and Sexual Health provides a comprehensive overview of research and policy in this increasingly important area.
The book describes the world-wide incidence and prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents and examines how their sexual behaviour has changed as a result of the threat of AIDS. It also looks at young people's knowledge and attitudes about their own sexual health, as well as the usefulness of models of predicting those at risk. The authors also dicuss the effectiveness of institutional policies in educating young people and in preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
Drawing from the author's insights from their research programmes, Youth, AIDS and Sexual Health will be of considerable benefit to health care providers, sex educators and all those who work with and study adolescents.

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This study draws on feminist theory, cultural studies, the philosophy of science, and gay and lesbian studies to problematize the factual scientific discourse about AIDS, and interpret it as a political discourse. Waldby argues that much AIDS discourse relies on an implicit and unconscious equation between sexual health and heterosexual masculinity. In this equation, women, bisexual and gay men are the targets of preventative programmes, while heterosexual men tend to remain unaddressed by such programmes. Drawing upon examples of preventative policies from Australia, Britain and the USA, Waldby investigates the concept of public health and questions whose interests are represented in a "healthy society". It demonstrates the extent to which established ideas about the virus: the immune system, the HIV test and the epidemiology of the disease, rely upon unexamined, conservative assumptions about sexual identity and sexual difference.

Since early-on in the epidemic, there has been much interest in the role that bisexual behaviour among men may play in HIV transmission. This text reviews from an international perspective what has been learned about male bisexuality in countries as diverse as Peru and Britain. Its authors examine the forms that bisexuality takes in different cultures, what it means to the men concerned, and whether or not such behaviour poses special risks. The implications of such enquiry for HIV prevention efforts are also examined.

First published in 1996. The incidence of HIV/AIDS in society has reached epidemic levels. People of all ages are contracting the disease, and with the advances in medication and treatment, those with the disease are living longer. This book discusses the unique issues facing older adults with HIV/AIDS and addresses living with the disease.

Some 12 years into the epidemic, with an effective preventive vaccine or therapy against HIV disease still to be found, this book reflects on the contributions of social and behavioural research to the development of interventions for prevention. After over a decade's work documenting HIV and AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, social researchers have begun to focus more clearly on perceptions of sexual safety and risk, and the factors that contribute to these. The issues addressed by the book were examined during three major conferences in 1994: the annual conference of the British Sociological Association, the 2nd International Conference on the BioPsychoSocial Aspects of AIDS and the Xth International Conference on AIDS. The book brings together key papers presented at each of these conferences, documenting issues of focal concern to social researchers, policy makers and health educators in the mid-1990s.

Some 12 years into the epidemic, with an effective preventive vaccine or therapy against HIV disease still to be found, this book reflects on the contributions of social and behavioural research to the development of interventions for prevention. After over a decade's work documenting HIV and AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, social researchers have begun to focus more clearly on perceptions of sexual safety and risk, and the factors that contribute to these. The issues addressed by the book were examined during three major conferences in 1994: the annual conference of the British Sociological Association, the 2nd International Conference on the BioPsychoSocial Aspects of AIDS and the Xth International Conference on AIDS. The book brings together key papers presented at each of these conferences, documenting issues of focal concern to social researchers, policy makers and health educators in the mid-1990s.

Based on the findings of a research project conducted by the World Health Organisation, this book contains unpublished material on AIDS-related knowledge and sexual behaviour in countries in Africa, Asia and South America, including: Cote d'Ivoire; Kenya; Lesotho; Mauritius; Tanzania; Sri Lanka; Singapore; Thailand; and Brazil. The book provides an in-depth comparative analysis of the findings from 16 key surveys in the original research programme, the aim of which was to identify baseline levels of sexual and other risk behaviours. The text is intended to be of use to a wide range of readers, including those working in health education, social and behavioural research, anthropology, social medicine and sexual behaviour research.

Based on the findings of a research project conducted by the World Health Organisation, this book contains unpublished material on AIDS-related knowledge and sexual behaviour in countries in Africa, Asia and South America, including: Cote d'Ivoire; Kenya; Lesotho; Mauritius; Tanzania; Sri Lanka; Singapore; Thailand and Brazil. The book provides an in-depth comparative analysis of the findings from 16 key surveys in the original research programme, the aim of which was to identify baseline levels of sexual and other risk behaviours. The text is intended to be of use to a wide range of readers, including those working in health education, social and behavioural research, anthropology, social medicine and sexual behaviour research.

Culture and Sexual Risk addresses many controversial themes that have emerged over the last few years: the ethics of sex research, the role of Westem anthropologists in developing nations, the role of heterosexuals in AIDS research and the impact of AIDS on the discipline of anthropology. Brummelhuis and Herdt provide an intense examination of sexual risk and its cultural configurations heretofore missing from the AIDS literature. The chapters on Westem gay men speak to the pressing methodological, conceptual and theoretical needs in HIV/AIDS research while providing an understanding and documentation of gay men's lives within the emerging corpus of lesbian and gay studies. Chapters on the Philippines, Brazil, Haiti and Africa explore the cultural, political and economic contexts surrounding the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS in these cultures.

First published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor and Francis, an informa company.

Culture and Sexual Risk addresses many controversial themes that have emerged over the last few years: the ethics of sex research, the role of Westem anthropologists in developing nations, the role of heterosexuals in AIDS research and the impact of AIDS on the discipline of anthropology. Brummelhuis and Herdt provide an intense examination of sexual risk and its cultural configurations heretofore missing from the AIDS literature. The chapters on Westem gay men speak to the pressing methodological, conceptual and theoretical needs in HIV/AIDS research while providing an understanding and documentation of gay men's lives within the emerging corpus of lesbian and gay studies. Chapters on the Philippines, Brazil, Haiti and Africa explore the cultural, political and economic contexts surrounding the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS in these cultures.

We began to research for this book in 2000, with the idea that we might contribute to the search for solutions to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic by c- bining perspectives from different disciplines. Much has happened in the interv- ing years. First, the severity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa - and the threat it posed for many others regions of the world - led to a movement among several countries to correct the imbalance between producers and users of ph- maceutical products. This effort produced a clarification of the right of gove- ments to produce generic medicine under compulsory licenses and an amendment of the World Trade Organization's TRIPS Agreement to allow exports of generic medicines from one WTO Member to another. In 2007, the amended rules were put into practice, with Canada authorizing the export of generic antiretroviral drugs to Rwanda. However, at the same time, global patent laws have been undermined due to regulatory capture, most notably in free trade agreements and through political pressure on countries like Thailand to not to exercise their right to issue compulsory licenses for pharmaceutical products. Second, the amount of money available for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS has increased dramatically, with the establishment of the World Bank Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program for Africa (MAP), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), among other funding initiatives.

This book provides a global overview of the role of the community sector, examining in detail the origins and activities of community organizations in Europe, the Americas, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific. It also describes the impact of sexuality and gender on AIDS activism and AIDS organizing, as well as broader cultural responses to the epidemic. It charts the emergence and development of the community sector response to HIV and AIDS, illustrating the factors that led affected individuals and communities to organize, question, challenge and redefine initial governmental responses to the epidemic. It describes the contribution of the community / NGO sector to global efforts to prevent the spread of the disease, highlighting tensions which have sometimes arisen within community based organizations themselves: tensions between activism and service provision, between altruism and self help, between volunteer participation and management control, and between fluidity of function and increasing bureaucratization. "Power and Community" has grown out of the author's intellectual and political commitment to the idea that without support from strong community