The AIDS Conspiracy : Science Fights Back /
Nattrass, Nicoli
The AIDS Conspiracy : Science Fights Back / Nicoli Nattrass. - 1 online resource (240 p.) : 8 line drawings, 3 tables
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. THE CONSPIRATORIAL MOVE AGAINST HIV SCIENCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES -- 2. AIDS ORIGIN CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND SOUTH AFRICA -- 3. WHO BELIEVES AIDS CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND WHY LEADERSHIP MATTERS -- 4. SCIENCE, POLITICS, AND CREDIBILITY -- 5. SCIENCE, CONSPIRACY THEORY, AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN AIDS POLICY TRAGEDY -- 6. HERO SCIENTISTS, CULTROPRENEURS, LIVING ICONS, AND PRAISE-SINGERS -- 7. DEFENDING THE IMPRIMATUR OF SCIENCE -- 8. THE CONSPIRATORIAL MOVE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- INDEX
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
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.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9780231149136 9780231520256
10.7312/natt14912 doi
AIDS (Disease)--Transmission.
AIDS (Disease)--South Africa.
AIDS (Disease)--United States.
Conspiracy theories.
HIV infections--South Africa.
HIV infections--United States.
Medical policy--South Africa.
Medical policy--United States.
Public opinion--South Africa.
Public opinion--United States.
POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / General.
RC606.6
362.1969792
The AIDS Conspiracy : Science Fights Back / Nicoli Nattrass. - 1 online resource (240 p.) : 8 line drawings, 3 tables
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. THE CONSPIRATORIAL MOVE AGAINST HIV SCIENCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES -- 2. AIDS ORIGIN CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND SOUTH AFRICA -- 3. WHO BELIEVES AIDS CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND WHY LEADERSHIP MATTERS -- 4. SCIENCE, POLITICS, AND CREDIBILITY -- 5. SCIENCE, CONSPIRACY THEORY, AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN AIDS POLICY TRAGEDY -- 6. HERO SCIENTISTS, CULTROPRENEURS, LIVING ICONS, AND PRAISE-SINGERS -- 7. DEFENDING THE IMPRIMATUR OF SCIENCE -- 8. THE CONSPIRATORIAL MOVE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- INDEX
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
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.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9780231149136 9780231520256
10.7312/natt14912 doi
AIDS (Disease)--Transmission.
AIDS (Disease)--South Africa.
AIDS (Disease)--United States.
Conspiracy theories.
HIV infections--South Africa.
HIV infections--United States.
Medical policy--South Africa.
Medical policy--United States.
Public opinion--South Africa.
Public opinion--United States.
POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / General.
RC606.6
362.1969792