Thinking Differently about Hiv/AIDS: Contributions from Critical Social Science

Almost four decades after the scientific discovery of HIV/AIDS, the world continues to grapple with this public health challenge. A successful response requires thinking differently about the epidemic, but what type of thinking can facilitate change?
Thinking Differently about HIV/AIDS explores the limits of mainstream approaches to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and challenges us to develop alternate solutions, placing particular emphasis on the value of critical social science perspectives. The contributors investigate traditions of inquiry - governmentality studies, institutional ethnography, Indigenous knowledges, conversation analysis, actor-network theory, critical ethnography, and others - to determine what these perspectives can bring to HIV/AIDS research, policy, and prevention programming. Engaging with various knowledge frameworks, they examine the role of treatment in the public health response to HIV, the criminalization of HIV, epidemiological and media constructions of the epidemic, HIV non-disclosure, treatment adherence, and other topics.
Thinking Differently about HIV/AIDS is the first Canadian anthology of critical social science perspectives on HIV/AIDS, demonstrating how and why critical social science is necessary for rethinking research and action required to address the epidemic.