Meddling with Mythology: AIDS and the Social Construction of Knowledge

by Rosaline S. Barbour (Editor), Guro Huby (Editor)

Overview

Meddling with Mythology examines the role of research in the construction of modern mythology or folklore surrounding HIV/AIDS.
Researchers from a variety of disciplines reflect on the insights gained and the impact of their work, in light of the initial panic surrounding the prediction of an AIDS epidemic.
Issues discussed include:-
* power
* representation
* the politics of text
* understanding research relationships
* impact of research on researchers and responders
* potential for change.
Meddling with Mythology takes the reader from the theoretical to the practicable and from the public to the personal in the representations of AIDS. The issues raised here also have great significance for those concerned with the social construction of knowledge, theory building and the research process more generally.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415163903
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/07/1998
Series:	International Library of Sociology (Paperback)
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Rosaline S.Barbour is Senior Lecturer in Health Services Research at the University of Hull.,
Guro Huby is a Research Associate at the University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction AIDS: from the specialised to the mainstream, Rosaline S. Barbour, Guro Huby; Part 1 Power; Chapter 2 Silence and strategy Researching AIDS/HIV narratives in the flow of power, Brian Heaphy; Chapter 3 Power, culture and the ‘hard to reach’ The marginalisation of minority ethnic populations from HIV prevention and harm minimisation, Dima Abdulrahim; Chapter 4 Policing boundaries Linking the theory and experience of psychotherapy in HIV/AIDS research, Philip Gatter; Part 2 Boundaries and identities; Chapter 5 It's a family affair On public and private accounts of HIV/AIDS, Hugh Masters; Chapter 6 Researchers experience emotions too, Jill Bourne; Chapter 7 Fact-finder, fag hag, fellow and funambulist Research as a balancing act, Katie Deverell; Part 3 Narrative exchange; Chapter 8 The story as gift Researching AIDS in the welfare marketplace, Neil Small; Chapter 9 Of tales, myth, metaphor and metonym, Clive Foster; Chapter 10 On networks and narratives Research and the construction of chaotic drug user lifestyles, Guro Huby; Part 4 Representation and agency; Chapter 11 Engagement, representation and presentation in research practice, Rosaline S. Barbour; Chapter 12 Carrying out HIV-related research in an area of low prevalence Issues for researcher and researched, Cathy Stark; Chapter 13 Evaluation within a policy-making and contracting culture Reflections on practice, Edwin van Teijlingen, Guro Huby; Part 5 A tribute to Phil Strong and an overview; Chapter 14a Introduction to Chapter 14, Anne Murcott; Chapter 14 The pestilential apocalypse Modern, postmodern and early modern observations, Philip Strong; Chapter 15 Conclusion From meddling to mastery?, Rosaline S. Barbour, Guro Huby;

Editorial Reviews

'Each of the parts in this collection provides both accessible but also penetrating insights into the often-unrecorded consequences for both researcher and researched of undertaking research in complex and unfolding arenas of experience and knowledge. It is a good and valuable book that provides another dimension to the history of the constructors of AIDS knowledges, and a useful example of the largely hidden face of research practice.' - Medical Sociology News: A Newsletter of the British Sociological Association December 1998

'Honest insights into the research process that books such as this provide should never be ignored.' - Kevin Williams, Health, Risk and Society

From the Publisher