Bearing Witness: Gay Men's Health Crisis And The Politics Of Aids / Edition 1

by Philip M Kayal

Overview

BEARING WITNESS IS A STORY ABOUT HOPE, a statement of faith in the human spirit. By dint of circumstance, it is two stories rolled into one. On the one hand, it is the tale of how volunteerism became the most necessary and reliable response to the political problems caused by AIDS and, on the other, it is a chronicle of how the gay community mobilized itself in the service of transformation to contain and resolve the social, psychological, and spiritual issues that the disease raised.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813317298
Publisher:	Westview Press
Publication date:	05/24/1993
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1420L (what's this?)

About the Author

Philip M. Kayal is professor of sociology at Seton Hall University. He has published extensively in the sociology of religion, ethnicity, and homophobia. His current interests are the nonprofit sector and the study of gay/AIDS volunteerism.

Table of Contents

Dedication — Preface — Acknowledgements — Introduction — PART ONE AIDS: The Issues — 1 Getting Involved — 2 The Sin Stigmaand Gay/AIDS Volunteerism — 3 Morality" and AIDS Issues — 4 Democratization and the Response to AIDS — PART TWO Ideology: Volunteerism and AIDS — 5 Volunteerism, Conununity and Blaming the Victim — 6 The Political Economy of Volunteerisin and AIDS Prevention/Education — 7 Who Volunteers: Minority Volunteerism and GMHC — 8 Gay Volunteerism Before amd After AIDS — 9 Gay/AIDS Volunteerism: A Question of Altruism? — 10 Volunteerism and Voluntary Associations — PART THREE The Significance of Gay/MDS Volunteerism — 11 GMHC and the Community Interest: Institutionalization and Successful Volunteerism — 12 GMHC as Organizational Success and Problem — 13 Homophobia, Bearing Witness, and Empowerment — 14 Gay/AIDS Volunteerism as Political Innovation — Epilogue: Toward the Future — Notes — Bibliography — About the Book and Author — Index.

Editorial Reviews

Kayal, professor of sociology at Seton Hall University (N.J.), volunteered from 1983 to 1986 at Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City, and his experience in this pioneer mobilization against AIDS informs his disorganized but sometimes insightful book about volunteerism and cultural transformation. While Kayal offers a first-person account, his analysis is primarily sociological, and his history of GMHC is rather sketchy. He praises gay volunteerism because it is a means of self-affirmation, just as the term ``People with AIDS'' is more humanizing than the term ``AIDS victims.'' However, his castigation of the mainstream media for ignoring the ``remarkable contribution of the gay community to the care of People with AIDS'' seems dated. Kayal warns that ``Gays need to claim AIDS again'' because democratization of the disease will result in a diminution of gay identity that has arisen in response to the epidemic, and that community-based agencies like GMHC may lose their autonomy. Criticizing activists like playwright Larry Kramer for ``fighting hate with hate,'' Kayal argues for recognition that gay volunteerism is a way to join ``the sacred, the political and the personal.'' (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In the summer of 1981, gay playwright Larry Kramer met in New York City with a group of friends to discuss a frightening new illness that was killing friends and loved ones. Angered by the inaction of mainstream medical and government health agencies, this group formed what became known as the Gay Men's Health Crisis, now one of the largest and most influential independent agencies committed to AIDS education, research, and assistance. Kayal tells the story of this struggle and of the thousands of volunteers who comfort and care for those living and dying with AIDS. He concentrates on the work of these volunteers--their motivations and rewards--and also discusses the difficulties facing health workers battling the disease when confronted with barriers of racism, homophobia, and the marginalization of the poor and disenfranchised, i.e., those presently most at risk. Recommended primarily for academic collections or larger public libraries with informed lay readers.-- Jeffery Ingram, Newport P.L., Ore.

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