The Pasts, Presents and Futures of Aids, Norway (1983–1996)

Bibliographic Data

ID12209378
AuthorsKetil Slagstad (0000-0002-6061-9900, University of Oslo, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume34
Issue2
Pages417-444
Publication date2020-02-28
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial History of Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0951-631X • E-ISSN: 1477-4666
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/shm/hkaa018
PMID34084090
OpenAlexW3022266017
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited1

This article explores the Norwegian AIDS epidemic from a temporal perspective. It argues that interrogating the epidemic's tempos and rhythms provides useful tools in writing the history of an epidemic by drawing on a wide array of material from its first decade. By using various theories of temporality and chronology, this article maps out three phases of the Norwegian AIDS epidemic. In the first phase (1983-85), the emergence of the first cases of AIDS threw the positive perception of medicine's past into question and fundamentally challenged the notion of incessant medical progress. In the second phase (1985-87), as grim epidemiological prognoses were created and the general population was increasingly targeted, panic grew across Norwegian society. In the third phase (1987-96), as it was slowly realised that the initial prognoses would not materialise, the epidemic faded from the public imagination. With the unremembering of AIDS, HIV was turned into a chronic disease. The article argues that analysing past temporalities, like past pasts and past futures, provides insights into the presents of the past

Epistemology · Futures contract · Norwegian · Political science · Population · Sociology · Temporalities · Temporality · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Race, Genetics, and Society · Demography · History · Law · Philosophy

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