From Health Crisis to Rights Advocacy? HIV/Aids and Gay Activism in China and Singapore

Bibliographic Data

ID12249577
AuthorsLynette J Chua (0000-0002-6198-5574, corresponding author), Timothy Hildebrandt (0000-0003-2970-8638)
Year2013
Volume25
Issue6
Pages1583-1605
Publication date2013-10-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueVoluntas Revista Internacional de Filosofia (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2179-3786 • E-ISSN: 1573-7888
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s11266-013-9429-7
OpenAlexW2006392103
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited58

The relationship between HIV/AIDS and gay activism has been primarily informed by the American experience and understudied in nondemocratic contexts. Drawing upon qualitative research on China and Singapore, we refine understanding of HIV/AIDS’ influence on the development of gay activism under authoritarian conditions, by examining the processes through which activist organizations interact with laws and regulations, political norms, HIV/AIDS funding, and government responses to both HIV/AIDS and collective organizing. We show how HIV/AIDS’ influence plays out in multiple patterns, depending on the strategic responses that gay activists select from a constrained range of options to shape their organizations’ destinies. Therefore, we provide insights for development agencies and international donors into whether and how international assistance intended to encourage activism and wider social change are mediated by political and legal controls on local activism

Authoritarianism · China · Democracy · Gay rights · Government (linguistics · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Human rights · Political activism · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social movement · Sociology · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Gender Studies · Law · Medicine · Sex work and related issues · Socioeconomic Development in Asia · Virology