1 option
Denying AIDS : conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and human tragedy / Seth C. Kalichman ; foreword by Nicoli Nattrass.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Kalichman, Seth C.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- AIDS (Disease)--History.
- AIDS (Disease).
- History.
- AIDS (Disease)--Prevention.
- AIDS activists.
- Physical Description:
- xxiii, 205 pages : illustrations (some color), color portrait ; 25 cm
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Copernicus/Springer, [2009]
- Summary:
- Traces the origins of AIDS dissidents' disclaimers during the earliest days of the epidemic and delves into the psychology and politics of the current denial movement in its various incarnations. Focuses not on the "difficult" or doubting patient, but on organized, widespread forms of denial (including the idea that HIV itself is a myth and HIV treatments are poison) and the junk science, faulty logic, conspiracy theories, and larger forces of homophobia and racism that fuel them. Among topics covered: why AIDS denialism endures, and why science must understand it; the role of pioneer virus researcher Peter Duesberg in AIDS denialism; flawed immunological, virological, and pharmacological pseudoscience studies that are central to texts of denialism ; the social conservative agenda and the politics of AIDS denial, from the courts to the White House ; the impact of HIV misinformation on public health in South Africa; and fighting fiction with reality: anti-denialism and the scientific community.
- Contents:
- 1 HIV/AIDS Denialism Is Alive and Well 1
- Denial 2
- Doubt and the Difficult Patient 4
- Dissidence in Science 5
- What is HIV/AIDS Denialism? 8
- Suspicious Minds 13
- Why AIDS? Why Now? 15
- Who Are the Denialists? 20
- Why We Should Care About Denialism 22
- 2 Peter Duesberg and the Origins of HIV/AIDS Denialism 25
- Who Is Peter Duesberg? 26
- Peter Duesberg and Robert Gallo 34
- Duesberg on AIDS 38
- The Grant that Never Was 45
- Character Flaw? 48
- Duesberg the Victim 50
- A Groundswell of Support 52
- Has Duesberg Been Given His Due? 54
- 3 AIDS Pseudoscience 57
- Conducting Research Versus Concocting Pseudoscience 58
- Pseudo-virology: HIV Does Not Exist 60
- Pseudo-immunology I: HIV Exists but HIV Tests Are Invalid 62
- The Pure Virus Myth 64
- Everyone Is HIV Positive 66
- Pseudo-immunology II: HIV Does Not Cause AIDS 67
- Proof that HIV Does Not Cause AIDS 70
- Pseudo-immunology III: HIV Is Necessary but Insufficient to Cause AIDS 76
- A Closer Look at Poverty, Africa, and AIDS 76
- Pseudo-pharmacology: HIV Treatments Are Toxic Poison 78
- Pseudo-epidemiology: HIV Is Not Sexually Transmitted 82
- Cashing In 86
- 4 Denialist Journalism and Conspiracy Theories 91
- A Web of Denialism 93
- Blah-Blah-Bloggers 95
- The Great AIDS Debate? 96
- Deconstructing AIDS 97
- Denialist Journalism Meets AIDS Pseudoscience 98
- Morphing Science and Technobabble 98
- Portraying Science as Religion 101
- Cherry Picking 102
- The Single Study Fallacy 102
- Stuck in the 1980s 103
- Pushing Back the Goal Posts 104
- Preying on Fears 105
- The Spin Machine 105
- AIDS Conspiracies and Denialism 106
- AIDS Genocide Conspiracies 107
- Big Pharma Conspiracies 108
- Censorship Conspiracies 109
- Anti-sex Conspiracies 110
- What if the Denialists Are Right? 111
- Why Denialists Drive Scientists Crazy 112
- 5 Politics of Denialism 115
- The Press Conference 116
- Presidential Denialism 119
- Presidential AIDS Advisors 121
- Debunking Myths About AIDS in Africa 124
- Apartheid, AIDS, and Freedom 125
- South Africa and State Denialism 127
- The Durban Declaration 136
- AIDS Activism Meets Denialism 138
- Political Ideologies 141
- Racism and Homophobia 142
- The Nazi Thing 144
- AIDS Denialism in the Courtroom 145
- Body Bags 147
- 6 Getting Out of Denial 149
- In and Out of Denialism 150
- Why Denialism Will Not Go Away 153
- When Denialists Die 154
- AIDS Realism 156
- Credibility 157
- Contemporaneousness 157
- Common Sense 158
- Critical Thinking - The Denialism Antidote 158
- Avoid Falling into Single Study Fallacies 159
- Consider the Source 159
- More Technical Does Not Mean More Credible 159
- If It Is too Good to Be True, It Probably Isn't 159
- Take It Up with Your Doctor 159
- Be a Skeptic Not a Cynic 160
- Be a Dissident, Not a Denialist 160
- Anti-denialism 160
- Defeating Denialism 161.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [187]-201) and index.
- ISBN:
- 9780387794754
- 0387794751
- OCLC:
- 390487079
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.