The AIDS Conspiracy

Science Fights Back

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Medical, Patient Care, Health Care Delivery, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government, Public Policy
Cover of the book The AIDS Conspiracy by Nicoli Nattrass, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Nicoli Nattrass ISBN: 9780231520256
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: March 20, 2012
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Nicoli Nattrass
ISBN: 9780231520256
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: March 20, 2012
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

Since the early days of the AIDS epidemic, many bizarre and dangerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain the origins of the disease. In this compelling book, Nicoli Nattrass explores the social and political factors prolonging the erroneous belief that the American government manufactured the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to be used as a biological weapon, as well as the myth's consequences for behavior, especially within African American and black South African communities.

Contemporary AIDS denialism, the belief that HIV is harmless and that antiretroviral drugs are the true cause of AIDS, is a more insidious AIDS conspiracy theory. Advocates of this position make a "conspiratorial move" against HIV science by implying its methods cannot be trusted and that untested, alternative therapies are safer than antiretrovirals. These claims are genuinely life-threatening, as tragically demonstrated in South Africa when the delay of antiretroviral treatment resulted in nearly 333,000 AIDS deaths and 180,000 HIV infections—a tragedy of stunning proportions.

Nattrass identifies four symbolically powerful figures ensuring the lifespan of AIDS denialism: the hero scientist (dissident scientists who lend credibility to the movement); the cultropreneur (alternative therapists who exploit the conspiratorial move as a marketing mechanism); the living icon (individuals who claim to be living proof of AIDS denialism's legitimacy); and the praise-singer (journalists who broadcast movement messages to the public). Nattrass also describes how pro-science activists have fought back by deploying empirical evidence and political credibility to resist AIDS conspiracy theories, which is part of the crucial project to defend evidence-based medicine.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Since the early days of the AIDS epidemic, many bizarre and dangerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain the origins of the disease. In this compelling book, Nicoli Nattrass explores the social and political factors prolonging the erroneous belief that the American government manufactured the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to be used as a biological weapon, as well as the myth's consequences for behavior, especially within African American and black South African communities.

Contemporary AIDS denialism, the belief that HIV is harmless and that antiretroviral drugs are the true cause of AIDS, is a more insidious AIDS conspiracy theory. Advocates of this position make a "conspiratorial move" against HIV science by implying its methods cannot be trusted and that untested, alternative therapies are safer than antiretrovirals. These claims are genuinely life-threatening, as tragically demonstrated in South Africa when the delay of antiretroviral treatment resulted in nearly 333,000 AIDS deaths and 180,000 HIV infections—a tragedy of stunning proportions.

Nattrass identifies four symbolically powerful figures ensuring the lifespan of AIDS denialism: the hero scientist (dissident scientists who lend credibility to the movement); the cultropreneur (alternative therapists who exploit the conspiratorial move as a marketing mechanism); the living icon (individuals who claim to be living proof of AIDS denialism's legitimacy); and the praise-singer (journalists who broadcast movement messages to the public). Nattrass also describes how pro-science activists have fought back by deploying empirical evidence and political credibility to resist AIDS conspiracy theories, which is part of the crucial project to defend evidence-based medicine.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book Literature and Film in Cold War South Korea by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Voices of the New Arab Public by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book The Death of Philosophy by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Heritage, Culture, and Politics in the Postcolony by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Social Justice and the Urban Obesity Crisis by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Wearing My Tutu to Analysis and Other Stories by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Rushed to Judgment by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Intoxicating Minds by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Derrida/Searle by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book How to Read Chinese Poetry by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Creating a Learning Society by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Heidegger by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Desegregating the Past by Nicoli Nattrass
Cover of the book Juggling Identities by Nicoli Nattrass
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy