Materialities of sex in a time of HIV : the promise of vaginal microbicides / Annette-Carina van der Zaag.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zaag, Annette-Carina van der, author.

Series:

Critical perspectives on theory, culture and politics.

Critical Perspectives on Theory, Culture and Politics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

HIV infections--Prevention.

HIV infections.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (208 pages).

Place of Publication:

London, England ; New York, New York : Rowman & Littlefield International, 2018.

Summary:

Contemporary feminist theory has moved into posthuman terrains as feminist theorists utilise human/nonhuman relations and a motley crew of nonhuman entities to reinvigorate feminist critique of nature/culture dichotomies. But what place is left for sex/gender relations in this move beyond the human? Materialities of Sex in a Time of HIV is written on the cusp of feminist theory of materiality and the analysis of an object at the heart of various sex/gender manifestations – the vaginal microbicide. Vaginal microbicides are female-initiated HIV prevention methods (currently tested in clinical trials) designed as creams, rings, gels and sponges that women can insert vaginally before having sex to protect themselves against HIV infection. The microbicide is developed as a tool for women’s empowerment in the HIV epidemic, but what happens to feminist ideals when they materialise through biomedical practice? This book provides an analysis of the field of microbicide development to articulate the complexity of its promise and material effects; and utilises the microbicide as an analytical ally in a provocative debate with contemporary feminist theory.

Contents:

A promise of empowerment

The feminist project of agential realism

Vaginal spaces of biopolitical conflict

On the figure and the real

A promise of efficacy

Political genealogies, frictional collectivities

A cyborg promise?.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781783488438

1783488433